Forbidden
by dancingirl28843
Summary: Sirius Black had never had a real girlfriend. Why? Because the only girl he'd ever loved...was Lily Evans. Hogwarts years and after. JPLE SBLE. Rating might change to T.
1. Sorting

**A/N: Hey, dancingirl28843 here. For those of you looking for another story like CSL **_**(Cheese, Squee, and Laptops)**_**…LOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE. This is going to be a **_**serious**_** story with a **_**serious**_** plotline. It's also going to be a **_**Sirius**_** story (haha, get it? I'm punny!!)**

**So anyway, I thought – maybe…there was a reason why Sirius never married or had a steady girlfriend (that we know of). Maybe…Severus Snape wasn't the only one with a forbidden crush on Lily Evans…**

**Now, I know there are a few mistakes in the train scene, I just didn't have my book with me at the time, and had to write it from memory. Also, this chapter sounds rather James-Lily, but I promise you the story, as a whole, won't be. In the next chapter, our little intrigue will probably begin to develop.**

James Potter was sitting next to Sirius Black on the Hogwarts Express when the door opened and someone stuck their head in. Looking out from a thick mass of bright red hair were two green eyes.

The girl blinked a couple of times and then said in a quiet but firm voice, "D'you mind? Everywhere else is full."

James nudged Sirius quietly with his foot, and then grinned at her and said, waving toward the seat across from him, "Go right ahead...um, sorry, didn't catch your name…"

"I'm Lily. Lily Evans." She said, putting her hair behind one ear. Then, as she hoisted her trunk up above the seat, she added, "This is Severus Snape." A kid with greasy hair and a massive hooked nose followed Lily into the compartment.

"Hi. I'm James Potter and this is Sirius Black. Oh, here let me—" He made his way over to Lily, who was still trying to get her trunk into the overhead compartment.

Suddenly, Snape shoved himself between James and Lily, grabbing her trunk and throwing it into the overhead compartment. "Don't worry Lily, I've got it."

James rolled his eyes at Sirius and sat down again. He noticed how close Snape was sitting to Lily and scowled. Then, he started up a conversation in the hope of getting Lily to join.

"Sirius, about Houses…where're you going, if you get the chance?" James said, casting occasional looks in Lily's direction.

"Dunno…" Sirius mumbled, looking away awkwardly.

"I'm going to Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! All my family have been in it…"

"All my family have been in Slytherin!" Sirius burst out, momentarily shocking James into actually looking at him instead of Lily.

"Blimey! And I thought you seemed all right!" James exclaimed, looking at Sirius again.

"Hey, maybe I'll break tradition, join you in Gryffindor?" Sirius grinned.

James was about to reply when he heard Snape snicker to Lily, "Sure, if you'd rather be brawny than brainy!"

Suddenly, James and Snape were yelling, Lily was shaking her vivid red hair, Sirius was on the point of punching someone in the nose…and then Lily grabbed "Sev" (or Snivellus, as James had just dubbed him) by the arm and dragged him off in search of another compartment.

James turned around slowly and gaped at Sirius. "Did you _see_ her? She was cute!"

Sirius couldn't believe his ears. The girl had bright red hair that clashed with her pale skin and freckles, and big green eyes that made her look slightly owlish.

"Cute? Are you _joking?"_

"No! Don't tell me you don't _agree…_" James trailed off, staring into space, and bit into another Chocolate Frog, tossing the card to Sirius. Sirius glanced at the Dumbledore card and rejected it, throwing it onto the quickly growing pile in Snivellus's old seat.

"Yeah, I mean…if you _like_ that pale little redhead thing!" Sirius said, quickly adding, "Not that there's anything _wrong_ with that!" when James narrowed his eyes dangerously.

Suddenly, the compartment door opened again.

"Oh, look who's come back to apologize!" Sirius said, staring at a Bertie Bott's Bean.

"What are you talking about? We just wanted to see if there was any room in this compartment. All the others are full." This came from someone who was absolutely neither Lily nor Snape. The boy was obviously another first year, and he had mousy brown hair and rather tattered robes. He was closely followed by a short skinny boy with pale blonde hair and an admiring look. "I'm Remus Lupin and this is Peter Pettigrew."

James looked at Remus and Peter, and suddenly shuddered. Something about Peter…but no, the boy looked harmless enough, it was evident that he didn't have much self-esteem or courage. James nodded and said, "'Course you can sit with us. James Potter, and this is Sirius Black. Sorry about before, we had a bit of a bad experience a few minutes ago. Some would-be Slytherin and a girl who looks like she belongs anywhere but came in and…well, we had a bit of a conflict. As you can see, they're not here anymore, but that's only because the girl, Lily, dragged him out before we could get into any kind of a decent fight. That sound about right, Sirius?"

Sirius tossed his long black hair and mumbled something in the affirmative, while Remus grinned, and Peter just stared at his newfound idol.

"GRYFFINDOR!!" The Sorting Hat screamed. A table that resembled a solid mass of red and gold erupted in cheers, glad to receive their first new member. They were joined by a few of the first years. James was clapping loudly, joined by Remus. Standing at the very end of the row was Snivellus, who pursed his lips and turned away.

Sirius got up and placed the Sorting Hat gingerly back on the stool. He grinned at James and gave him a thumbs-up. Then, Sirius ran to his new House table, looking for all the world as if Christmas had come early.

A few more were Sorted, among them "Blaise, John", who became the first new Slytherin. Pretty soon, McGonagall had called—

"Evans, Lily!"

James stared at the Sorting Hat, looking like he was trying to bore a hole in it with his eyes. He wasn't the only one either. Snivellus had finally stopped staring at the ceiling and was now looking at the Hat as if he was begging it for something. Lily sat down on the stool and clammed the Hat over her eyes. It thought for a long time, much longer than it had taken with anyone else, even Sirius. James looked around and saw Sirius give him a grim smile. Lily herself, James noticed, was digging her hands into the stool. The little he could see of her face was grim. Then, the Hat opened its rip of a mouth and yelled—

"GRYFFINDOR!!"

James released a breath that he'd been holding for close to a minute, and looked at Lily. Her face was radiant. Then, she looked at Snivellus Snape and her face suddenly fell. She looked apologetic. Following her gaze, James could see why – he looked miserable. Shooting one final, dirty look at James, Snivellus turned away.

The minutes passed in a haze of called out House names. James only tuned back in for Remus's and Peter's Sortings. Both were new Gryffindors. And then McGonagall called out his name.

"Potter, James."

James caught Sirius staring at him, and grinned back. Sitting across from Sirius were Remus and Peter. Looking back to his newfound best friend, James noticed that he was mouthing, "We saved you a seat." James smiled as he put on the Sorting Hat and was enveloped in darkness.

_Potter…potter…where to put you? You have talent, that's certain, and a thirst for fame. And you're smart, if you apply yourself. But courage, what courage. Better be…_

"GRYFFINDOR!!" The hat thundered, and James stepped down to join his friends at the Gryffindor table. After high-fiving Sirius and the rest, James looked up just in time to catch Snivellus getting Sorted into Slytherin. James grinned and snickered quietly, nudging Sirius under the table. James looked down the row and caught Lily Evans's eye, smiling at her.

Lily scowled and turned away, shaking her red hair over her face. Meanwhile, Sirius looked at James and rolled his eyes.

"You know James, if you really like her, laughing at her best friend might not be a good idea…"

"Hey, the guy's a git, he deserves it. Besides, I'm not the only first year with a crush…look at Frank Longbottom. He's practically _mooning_ over Alice Eberly." James murmured, smiling.

That night, Sirius turned over in his new four poster bed and stared out the window. There was a full moon shining outside, illuminating the grounds, where one tree seemed to be waving its branches around. _Strange, _Sirius thought. Then, he cracked the hangings and looked out across the room. James was lying in his bed with the hangings open, spread eagled across the sheet. Peter was curled into a tiny ball, and Remus's bed was empty. He had left the dorm a half hour before, claiming that he was sick and that he would go and try to find the Hospital Wing.

Looking back at James, Sirius noticed that he was mumbling something in his sleep. "Gryffindor…" James mouthed, and turned his head to the wall.

Sirius grinned, and an image of that girl, Lily, flashed before his eyes. _She's not that bad,_ was his last thought before sleep engulfed him.


	2. Potions Project

**A/N: Okay snaps for the one person who reviewed and the one other person who added my story to their Story Alert list. I'm sorry but BOO for the rest of you. :D Anyway, moving on, please review, it really helps me figure out what to write about next. The next few chapters are all gonna be first year because everything is so new – first Halloween, first Christmas, exams, etc. Somewhere in between there will be FIRST MAJOR PLANNED PRANK!! I still don't know what that's going to be even though I have a few ideas…if you think of anything, review and LEMME KNOW!! Hehe, gotcha, now you HAVE to review… mwahahahaha. OOOOOOOOkay on with the story.**

**Also, on reading over the finished chapter, there's rather a lot of Lily telling Sirius off. I didn't want to take it out because I think that's how they would really be – Lily focused and serious, and him flighty and easily distracted. I'm sure there were times when she yelled at all of the Marauders (except perhaps Remus, he was a bit more studious).**

Weeks had passed since the beginning of school and Lily Evans had quickly distinguished herself as the "brightest witch in the year!" according to their Charms teacher, tiny Professor Flitwick. Sirius and James, while bright, never found it worthwhile to strive to be anything besides above average. Remus did reasonably well in all their classes, and ended up shocking Professor Landen, their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, when he knew more about werewolves than even Lily. Snivellus was mediocre in everything but Potions and DADA. And unluckily enough, Potions and DADA were the only classes that Gryffindors and Slytherins had together. Despite James's best attempts to secure Lily as a Potions partner, Snivellus always seemed to get there first, and even if he didn't, Lily would turn to one of her other friends like Alice Eberly or Mary MacDonald and ignore James completely.

It was one October day in Potions when Professor Slughorn suddenly got up and said, "Quiet students. That means you too, Mulciber, Avery. Black, put that _down!_ Potter, don't think I don't see those lacewings in your pocket. Now, since we've covered the basics, we're going to start working on a partner project – an essay on the discovery, properties, and uses of a Potions ingredient I will assign you."

Sirius gulped and looked at James, who elbowed him and murmured, "Partners?" Sirius nodded and looked around. All around the room, people were nudging their friends and setting up partners for the upcoming project. Snape and Lily were nodding at each other. They were already starting to discuss possible topics when Slughorn said, "Now since you're all pretty new, I'm going to assign you partners, people that you might not usually talk to much."

A ripple of fear went around the room.

Slughorn walked around pointing at people and pairing them up. "Let's see…Snape, work with Pettigrew, he needs help. Lupin, you and Longbottom. Potter. No, you're not working with Black. Actually, Evans!"

James bit his lip. This was way too good to be true. After months of trying to get Lily as a Potions partner, Slughorn was about to randomly pair them up?

Then Slughorn went on. "Evans, you work with Black. I think you'll work well together." Sirius looked over at his best friend. James looked like he was about to have a heart attack. As hilarious as he looked (he was purple, for one thing), Sirius knew that James was far from laughing. Sirius looked at Lily, who seemed as if she was about to hurl. James glanced at Sirius and muttered, "I hate you." But it was a joke – his eyes were laughing at the irony of it all.

After James was paired up with Mary MacDonald (a complete nitwit who couldn't brew the easiest potion in the book), Slughorn told them all to sit with their new partners and talk quietly while he went around and assigned topics. Sirius silently placed his bag next to the stool beside Lily's and sat down. They sat in silence for a few moments, and then Lily suddenly blurted out—

"Just so you know, I'm not going to do all the work on this! And it's completely juvenile, the entire project. I mean, just _listen_. He's assigning people _wolfsbane!_ I've known the properties of wolfsbane since…oh, I don't know, August?! It was on practically the first page of _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_!" She smiled at Sirius and rolled her eyes.

Sirius actually had no idea what wolfsbane was, but he remember seeing something about it in his Potions textbook, so he grinned back and said that first thing that came to mind: "Next to the section about monkshood, right?"

To his surprise, Lily started laughing hysterically. It wasn't mean laughter, it sounded more like they were sharing an inside joke that no one else could even hope to understand. "Oh, that's too funny! Wolfsbane and monkshood, hah! I mean, some of the people in this class probably don't even know that they're the same thing. I mean, I obviously know, and you do too, and I suppose Potter and Lupin know. And Sev. Sev knows, he's good at Potions." Lily sobered quickly and glanced at Snape, who was busy trying to explain something to Peter.

Sirius gulped. Lily apparently thought that he knew what she was talking about. Oh, how wrong she was…

A week later, Sirius was sitting in the library across from Lily. They were working on their Potions project…in theory.

In reality, Lily was working – poring over a massive book, looking for the discovery of gillyweed. Sirius was drawing a tiny Snitch in the corner of his piece of parchment, and lazily grinning at the two girls sitting at the next table. He caught the eye of one and nodded at her, causing her to twitter and mutter something to her jealous friend.

Suddenly, a small white hand clapped down over his doodle, and a curtain of red hair swung wildly over it, coming to rest just above his inkwell. Lily stared Sirius in the eye and said quietly, in a steely voice, "Are you enjoying yourself, Sirius? Annie certainly is. But then, Annie's already finished her Potions project – it was assigned more than a week ago!"

Sirius tore his eyes away from the ends of Lily's hair (they were almost in the ink…just a few millimeters!) and mumbled, "Well, we've got all the information, right? Now you just have to write it up!"

"_We_ have all the information? Sirius, I've been doing all the research for a week. I could probably tell you more about gillyweed than our textbook! And what can you tell me about the plant? Can you even spell the word?" Lily eyed him with disgust and went on. "And I have no intention of writing _anything_ up. I've done my share of the work. If this was an individual project, I'd probably get an Outstanding. But no. We have to get the _same grade_ because we're supposed to do the _same amount of work!_ And I'm stuck relying on you! Well, here's a newsflash, Black. Either you start doing something besides flirting with Anna Vance, or I go to Slughorn right now and demand a new partner." Lily let that sink in for a moment.

"I—Lily, I'm sorry, I just…I don't know…I'll write it up, if you like." Sirius said slowly, mind reeling from the telling-off he had just received.

Lily slammed down a pile of books on the table in front of him and said angrily, "Get to work." With that, she spun on her heel and walked toward innocent Anna Vance. Lily slid into the chair next to the blonde Ravenclaw and murmured something in her ear, occasionally pausing to throw Sirius a dirty look.

Anna looked at Sirius, rolled her eyes, and went back to her Transfiguration homework.

Sirius sighed and looked down at the stack of books that Lily had placed over his Snitch doodle. He noticed that there was a small piece of parchment attached to each one, saying things like "discovery in here" and "good examples" in neat loopy writing. Sirius opened a book the Lily had labeled "intro and discovery" and began reading.

Two hours of unadulterated torture later, Sirius walked into the Great Hall for dinner and automatically scanned the Gryffindor table. James was sitting across from Remus and Peter, one leg on the bench, saving Sirius a spot. But it wasn't James that Sirius was looking for. There! Farther down the table, between Mary and Alice was Lily. She was talking animatedly, and seemed to be telling a very funny story.

Sirius walked down to where she was sitting, unnoticed both by her and James. He caught a snatch of what she was saying, "…and poor Anna! She seemed to have no idea that she had a crush on, well, a lazy little git! But really, I'm sorry I yelled at him. I took a look at what he had written when he went to the bathroom, and it wasn't half as bad as I expected. I don't even think I'll have to rewrite the thing!"

Sirius smiled pleasantly and squeezed in between her and Alice. He heard a sharp intake of breath – Lily had gasped quite audibly on finding that he'd heard. "Why, thank you, Lily. It's nice to know that I can write, even though I am a 'lazy git'."

"Sirius, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean it…well, I did a bit…at the time. But it's just, I'd done all the work, and all you'd done is a sketch of a ball with wings. A very good sketch, I'm sure but…" Lily trailed off, and suddenly smiled. "It was a good sketch, though. If you like, I'm sure I could find a little charm that would make it fly around the parchment!"

Sirius chose to not correct her "ball with wings" mistake – honestly, didn't she know what a Snitch was?! – but instead placed an elbow on the table and said conversationally, "Would you really? Thanks. But about me not doing any work…I usually wouldn't be so lazy, but it's Potions. Other subjects I don't mind, but I can't _stand_ Potions.It's dreadfully boring. All those fumes and formulas." Sirius shuddered. "You know."

Lily's bright smile and merry eyes suddenly disappeared and gave way to a thin line of a mouth and cold green eyes. "I happen to like Potions. It's not like the rest of the classes, where you can get by simply by waving your wand around and saying some Latin. Potions is logic, and calculation, and complexity. You actually have to work at it." And with that she whipped her head around and began some meaningless conversation with Mary.

Sirius got the hint – she was mad, and he was dismissed. He wasn't about to sit there waiting to be forgiven. He got up and walked over to the seat James had saved him.

"Why so glum, Sirius?" James asked jokingly. And then, suddenly suspicious—"And were you just sitting with Evans?"

"Don't worry James, I'm not trying to...steal her or anything. Just the Potions project…bit of a conflict…she's pretty mad."

"Girls," James began pompously, "are the only thing that I cannot understand."

Remus silently reached across the table and whacked James with a biscuit.

"Hey! What was that for?" James demanded, outraged.

"For being a twit," was Remus's matter-of-fact reply. "Now hurry up, Flitwick wants us to practice Wingardium Leviosa. Ugh."

That night, Sirius sat down on his bed long after his friends were asleep. He lay his head back on the pillow and felt parchment rustle. Sirius bolted upright and saw a small envelope addressed _To Sirius_ in neat loopy writing. He opened it.

A small drawn Snitch began flying around the piece of parchment, and as it flew, ink followed it, forming words. The Snitch finally came to rest in the corner, flapping its wings. Sirius stared at the message.

_I'm sorry._

**YAY!! CHAPTER TWO IS OVEEEER!! Lily and Sirius have begun their love-hate relationship. (shout-out to Ben: remind you of anything? :D) and the teachers have begun assigning a shitload of homework. (shout-out to anyone in my school: this HAS to remind you of school!)**

**I don't think I'll write any more about their project. If anyone cares, they finish without further mishap and get an E (Exceeds Expectations). Highest grade in the class. Snape would probably have scored higher, but her did have Peter for a partner…**

**Anyway, I have a long weekend coming up, so the next chapter will probably be up by Friday or Saturday. But if you guys review, I'll put it up waaay faster!!**

**Also, remember, I need ideas for the prank, so get cracking, and PM me or just review!!**


	3. Halloween

**A/N: OMIGOD I'M SOOOOOO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED!! I've had field hockey games and spirit week (YEAH MIDDLE SCHOOL!!) and my boyfriend got his cast off and homecoming's tonight so I've been JUST A TAD busy. But I guess that's no excuse…**

**Anyway, this chapter's gonna include Halloween and the prank. I know I asked all of you to review or PM me with your ideas for the prank, but right after I put up chapter two I talked to my boyfriend and we thought of some pretty funny things together, so that's what I'm using. I'd still love to get your feedback for pranks because there will definitely be more chapters with pranking. :D**

Sirius sat back on his bed and tossed his Transfiguration essay to the floor. Remus raised his eyebrows at him silently and Sirius groaned. "I'll finish the essay later, _Mother_."

Remus lunged at him, and managed to successfully knock him off the bed. Then Remus sat on his own bed and picked up his wand. He waved it at the essay and murmured "_Wingardium Leviosa"_. The essay promptly floated over to Sirius and then fell on his head.

Ten minutes and one thorough beating later, Remus was gasping on his bed, Sirius was sprawled on the floor, the relaxed victor, and James was laughing hysterically. He finally paused to draw breath and then said, "Halloween's coming up pretty soon, you know. Like two weeks."

Sirius looked at him strangely for a moment and then rolled his eyes. "No. Duh. What's your point, genius?"

"My _point_ is that the Halloween feast is…well, AMAZING!" James said seriously. "And I was just thinking…remember how in the first week Sirius set Frank Longbottom's sweater on fire for like a couple of minutes?" When Sirius and Remus looked blank, James went on. "It was hanging on his seat in Charms…and we were practicing Wingardium Leviosa…and then Flitwick noticed and put him out with some charm? And everyone thought it was hysterical because…well, it was?"

Remus smiled wryly and added, "I remember. That's how you guys got your first detentions."

Sirius laughed and muttered, "Yeah…and then the second ones from accidentally pantsing MacDonald in flying lessons…"

James joined in, saying, "And the third ones when we turned Alice's quill into a mouse accidentally and almost gave her a heart attack…"

"Good times, good times!"

"Yeah, but see, those were all by accident. I can't believe I haven't thought of it before bu—"

Remus butted in and exclaimed, "You can _think_?! It's a _miracle!_" A pillow promptly collided with Remus's head.

"Shut _up_. Anyway, I was just thinking. _YES, SIRIUS, THINKING! _That we really should plan something amazing for Halloween. Something unexpected. Something like…"

Two weeks later, James, Remus, and Sirius filed into the Great Hall with the rest of the first year Gryffindors for their first ever Halloween Feast. The three boys nudged each other and laughed quietly.

Lily, who was walking right behind them, furrowed her brows. After only two months of school, she already knew that they were a bunch of pranksters, and that their laughter meant nothing good. She put their voices out of her head and walked over to the Gryffindor table. It was empty, and everyone around it was laughing. Looking down, she saw a plate overflowing with pumpkin pasties. Lily swung her leg over the bench and sat down.

WHAM! She hit the floor, dropping a fork and bruising her knee. She looked up, frowning, and noticed everyone standing. Maybe that was because every time someone tried to sit down, the bench would vanish, leaving you sitting on the ground.

Sirius Black was standing right behind her, and laughing hysterically. She frowned and got up, crossing her arms and throwing him a scathing look. Then she turned away and went to find Mary and Alice.

Before she got farther than a few steps away, Dumbledore took his rightful place at the head of the teacher's table. He smiled serenely and said, "It looks like we have a few pranksters on our hands…would you…ah…care to step forward?"

Sirius, James, and Remus nudged each other quietly. There was some head shaking involved.

Dumbledore waited a beat and then went on. "No? All right. Well, let me just fix the benches…" He waved his wand and nodded at the students. They all sat down a bit hesitantly, but with visible relief when the benches did not vanish. James nudged Sirius and grinned. Then, Dumbledore went on seriously. "Anyway, before we start the feast, I have a few words I'd like to say. First—"

A shrill whistle suddenly went off and everyone in the room looked around nervously. Dumbledore stopped talking. The whistle turned off. He opened his mouth to speak once more, and the whistling resumed. He closed his mouth. The whistling stopped.

McGonagall looked at them all severely and began to reprimand them, when the annoying noise came back. Just then, the students understood what was going on – every time a teacher tried to speak, a whistle would block the sound out! There was loud laughter, and even cheers from some Gryffindors.

Dumbledore laughed along with them and waved his wand once more. A bit tentatively, he opened his mouth to speak and said, "That's better. Well, well, it looks like we haven't seen everything yet. I suppose I'll spare you the speech and—"

He clapped his hands and food appeared on the tables. Suddenly, Lily had a thought…Sirius and his friends (if it was them) were certainly not above bewitching food. And when she saw them not reaching for the drumsticks right in front of them, she was sure of it. Lily didn't reach for food either, and was glad she hadn't when she saw what happened.

Alice looked at Lily and said, "Why aren't you eating?" And with that, she reached over for some mashed potatoes. The second her fork touched the potatoes, something shuddered and…

"Oh my God, Alice! They _exploded_?!" That was Mary. Lily rolled her eyes and grabbed a napkin for her potato-covered friend. All around the Great Hall, people were covered in food…all except for James, Sirius, and Remus. Lily narrowed her eyes at them. Suddenly Sirius grinned at her, and she knew that he really meant the smile. If it was any other moment, she would have smiled back, but she had still not forgotten the bench incident. She sniffed prissily and turned away.

Dumbledore laughed loudly and waved his wand for the third time that night. The food all shuddered a bit and he reached for a bread stick. Everyone turned back to their food.

About fifteen minutes later, James looked up at the head table and saw all the teachers relaxed. He muttered something…and a minute later, there was a wail from the teacher's table, and Peeves swept literally through all of them. Lily knew from experience that this was not pleasant – it felt like a freezing cold shower, and not in a cool refreshing way. All the teachers shuddered, and Dumbledore finally stood up and said, "Well, prankster's I'm assuming that this is all?"

And to everyone's except Lily's amazement, James, Sirius, and Remus stood up and Sirius yelled, "Yeah! Yeah, it is!" All the other first years clapped, and some of the older students, too.

There was laughter and the three boys sat down, relaxing in their victory. Lily looked them up and down. Those charms were _impossibly_ hard for first year. She grinned appreciatively at Sirius and laughed when he crossed his eyes back at her.

She walked over to him and muttered, "Hey, nice job…pranking's not really my thing," they all laughed at this and then she went on, "but that was really good. Really advanced charm work guys. And I wouldn't just say that."

The boys smiled back and forth, especially James, who was still obsessing over Lily. Then Sirius said, "Well, since you're being _soooo nice _to us…you wanna sit with us?"

Lily smiled and looked back at Mary and Alice. "Nah, I'll go sit with them…looks like they forgot the cleaning charm again…but thanks for asking, you guys." She smiled brightly and walked away.

Sirius and James shared a smile and then went back to their pumpkin pie. Remus looked at them for a minute and frowned, then did the same. Peter just stared into space for a while. But, hey, who expected anything else?

**Okay, so this one's not too good, but it's the best I could crank out in forty-five minutes on the morning bus to school. At least I worked some SiriusLily interaction in there, right? Anyway, I'll probably post this at lunch…I'm definitely not going to stop updating, but it might take a while, because I have a whole bunch of tests coming up, and some field hockey games, and homecoming tonight (so I can't write).**

**Shout out/inside joke of the day goes to: Ilona – Me and my five true loves…you, Susmita, the tree, the exploded pen on the ground…and, well, I have to say this – (insert boy's name here).**

**For those of you who think I'm completely mentally insane, it was LATE, I was SUGAR HIGH, we were BORED. Gimme a break…**

**And remember…REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!**


	4. Christmas

**I **_**am**_** actually alive, guys! I know this one took a while to update, but it is nice and long, and I like to think that it's better than chapter 3 (which I have every intention of rewriting at some point).**

**I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, especially Mai, who posted one after every chapter. Also a big thank you to all of my real life friends who are reading this and begging me to update every day in school – even Alison who freaked me out a bit by printing it all out and then randomly reading aloud while changing for gym.**

**And finally, the biggest thank you goes to my wonderful friend, critic, and beta, ANNIE!! I love you and all the little mistakes you find in my writing!! OMIGOD SHOES!!**

It was finally Christmas Break and, after 3 solid weeks of listening to him whine about having to go home, Sirius had pushed James onto the train. Peter's mum had asked him to come home for the holidays and Remus was reluctantly going home because he felt (in his words) "a bit sick". When he heard that all his friends were leaving him alone over the holidays, Sirius had been outraged.

"Let me get this straight…James has to go to bloody _France _with his _parents_. Peter's _mummy dearest_ sent for him, and you, Remus, are going home because you have a bit of a cold!" Sirius had stormed. But after a few moments, he'd calmed down. After all, he knew what it was like to have to do something because your parents said so. **(A/N: I daresay he knew pretty well, with his mom…)**

So James, Remus, and Peter had gotten onto the Hogwarts Express and headed for home, while Sirius had climbed the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room. He fully expected it to be empty – he'd heard everyone chattering about their holiday plans, and no one else's included Hogwarts. So Sirius barged into the Common Room, slammed the portrait, and threw himself down in the chair closest to the fire.

Without even bothering to look around the room, he pulled out his wand and sent of a shower of red and green sparks with a bang. "Happy bloody Christmas," he yelled.

"Happy Christmas to you to, Sirius," A voice said drily.

_Shit,_ was Sirius's first reaction. He sincerely hoped that it was another first year. Turning around he saw—

"_Lily Evans?_ What the _hell_ are you doing here?"

"This is my common room, too, Sirius. Although the way you barged in, you might need reminding of that…" She laughed and sat down in the chair next to his, warming her hands over the fire.

"You know what I mean. Why aren't you home? I've seen those letters your parents send you. They're _mammoth_." He knew what long letters meant – _her_ parents wanted their kid home for the holidays. His parents? Well, the last letter his dear mum had sent him had been a Howler in a September – how _dare_ he get into Gryffindor? After that – nothing.

Lily looked uncomfortable for a moment and muttered something along the lines of, "Didn't want…leave Hogwarts…begged me…stay."

"_Your parents _wanted you to stay here?"

"Argh!! Never _mind!_ Anyway, what were you going on about before with such lovely language?"

"Erm…" Now it was Sirius's turn to stare at the fire and mutter sulkily. "Stupid James…stupid Remus…stupid twit Pettigrew… **(A/N: Stupid boys…omigod shoes! Sorry, I'm writing this on the bus and my friend is reading and just said that.) **went home for the stupid holidays."

Lily looked him up and down and burst out laughing.

"What? _What?!_" Sirius exclaimed when she fell back into her chair, shaking with laughter.

"You – you – you look like a sulky toddler!!" And having forced out that short sentence, Lily collapsed back into her armchair.

Sirius rolled his eyes and muttered, "Stupid Lily." Naturally, this only made Lily laugh harder – he'd just proved her point. When Lily had finally finished laughing herself hoarse, she smiled apologetically and amiably struck up a conversation. They talked for a while, uninterrupted in the deserted common room.

Eventually, Lily went up to her dorm, claiming she was "too tired to talk". Sirius laughed a bit at this and then said, "So, 'night. I'll see you at breakfast?"

Lily nodded and then suddenly she realized that they were the only two Gryffindors still at school. "Are they _really_ going to leave out the long tables for a handful of students?"

"Ha! How should I know? It would look hilarious, though…" Sirius stared into space for a moment, visualizing long rows of empty seats…bewitched to—

"Sirius? _Sirius? SIRIUS!_" Lily waved her hand in front of his face and said. "Okay, since you're falling asleep anyway…see you…" and, smirking, she waltzed off to her dorm.

A few days later, it was Christmas, and Sirius woke up to see a heap of presents at the foot of his bed.

"_Yes!_" He crouched down and began ripping them open. Mum, Dad and Regulus – socks. _That's nice_, he thought. They were expensive cashmere socks, but really – they were _socks!_

James got him a massive box of chocolate, with a note that said, "Happy Christmas, Sirius. And about the chocolate…sharing (with me, of course) is caring!"

Remus got him _101 Ways to Prank Your Friends (So They Don't Know How You Did It), _a book on really hard spells that also sounded like a lot of fun. Take, for example, number 57 – "Make their inkwells explode on contact with this simple charm!"

Peter got him a small bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. As luck would have it, the first one Sirius tried was pepper flavored. There wasn't much else in his pile, besides a quill from Aunt Andromeda that you could shrink to put in your pocket just by bending the nib. This was evidently a thinly veiled hint to do some work.

Before the dinner feast, Lily and Sirius walked into the Great Hall. The two eleven-year-olds were chattering about something and laughing, so neither of them noticed the dirty looks that Severus Snape shot them.

Lily and Sirius slid into chairs at the single long table. It was in the middle of the room with enough chairs to seat all the teachers and the ten students still at Hogwarts that winter – two Hufflepuffs, three Ravenclaws, three Slytherins (including Snape), and of course Lily and Sirius. Lily flashed Sirius a grin and went to sit by Snape. Sirius looked at the pair with a curious expression on his face, and then sat down next to a rather pompous Hufflepuff named Edward Macmillan. After a small (but still delicious) Christmas feast, Dumbledore waved his wand and wizard crackers appeared – the good kind, where you get Galleons and funny hats instead of stupid card tricks and the like.

Five minutes later, Dumbledore had traded in his fancy headmaster's hat for a small beanie with a propeller, and even Snape had grudgingly pulled a cracker with Lily. Lily had gotten a small, fluffy white rabbit. Snape had gotten a whistle. Which broke in about five seconds when the chubby bunny sat on it. **(A/N: hehe sucker…I just like torturing Snape…WITH FLUFFY BUNNIES!)**

Sirius grabbed one of the crackers and leaned across the table toward Lily. He offered it to her and she smiled wickedly and pulled. In a shower of sparks, the thing popped and out flew –

"_Excellent! _ A wizard chess set! I've already got one, but you can have it Lil. We _really_ have to play," Sirius told her and then looked down to see what else had come out of the cracker. "That's strange…there's nothing there except this…this thing…well, it looks a bit like a Snitch actually. Just folded up."

Sirius held up a ball about the size of his fist. It wasn't gold like a Snitch, but instead seemed to be made of glass. It was incased in something thin and silvery. Sirius tossed it up in the air (to see how high it would go) and, to his amazement, the silvery stuff unfolded to become a pair of wings. The thing floated down to Sirius's eye level.

He reached out and slowly grabbed it in his hand…the glass ball glowed dark crimson for a second (Lily gasped), and then went back to clear. One of the wings twitched and out fell a piece of parchment. Sirius picked up the slip of parchment and unfolded it, reading quickly.

Two minutes and several paragraphs later, Sirius finally knew what the heck he got. It was a message-ball. Basically, if you touched it under the left wing, you could record. And then, like an owl, it would find the person you wanted and deliver.

"Cool!" Lily said, reaching out and grabbing the ball before Sirius could stop her. The second she touched it, it flashed spring green and slowly darkened to the crimson, before fading back to clear. "Why does it _do_ that?!"

"Oh…um…" Sirius mumbled looking down. "It, erm, gives each person a color…so you can tell who you have a message from…I'm dark red, you're light green."

"Oh, cool. So this is a wizard's chess set, huh?" Lily motioned to the box sitting on the table in front of her.

"Yeah…so, um…I'm done…you wanna go play?" Sirius mumbled a bit awkwardly.

Lily agreed and grabbed her chess set. The bunny bit her ankle lightly and followed. **(Optional excerpt: There was a note attached to the bunny… "Hi. I have rabies. Bye." Lily's face grew pale and she collapsed writhing on the floor. Sirius ran to her side. She was breathing hard but didn't seem to be getting enough air.**

"**Lily! Lily! I love you! Don't die! Please, Lily, I love you!" Sirius cried futilely. **

"**J…James… is that… you?" Lily gasped. "I've always loved you too, James… always. Oh, and I think your friend Sirius is kinda strange." With that, Lily let out a final breath and was then still. **

"**&!!" Sirius screamed. As Sirius lay weeping for his deceased first love…the bunny jumped for his jugular. END OPTIONAL EXCERPT.**

**Thank you Annie…)**

Sitting on the floor in the common room, Lily opened up the box containing her chess pieces. Carved from mother of pearl and onyx, they were shockingly beautiful. Just as Sirius was coming back downstairs from the boys' dorm with a battered box of his own pieces, she picked up the white queen and turned the piece over.

"Put. Me. _Down._"

Lily turned around in shock and scanned the room before remembering that the only other Gryffindor was Sirius. And his voice was _not_ that high.

"Bloody hell! What _was_ that, Sirius?" Lily must have looked ridiculous because Sirius burst out laughing.

"The queen, Lily, the queen!"

"Sirius, I'm not exactly in primary school anymore. Chess pieces don't talk."

This only made Sirius laugh harder. "Haven't you ever played chess bef—ohhhh…you've only played _Muggle_ chess. Poor you. Forgot you were Muggleborn."

"Excuse me?!"

"Well…there's a few differences. The first one is that the chess pieces talk…and move themselves…and then you have a few annoying ones like my queenside bishop who try to give you advice. Stupid bishop."

A small tinny voice rose from the battered box in Sirius's hands. "I resent that!"

Sirius smiled halfheartedly. "See? Shut up, you. These pieces used to be my great-uncle's. And they barely listened to him, too. My _dear mother_ won't get me a new set, but _Regulus_, my brother, has a _solid gold set! A SOLID GOLD SET!!" _**(A/N: insert spaz out here)**

Lily looked at him curiously and said, "So if the pieces move themselves…do they…um…capture each other, too?"

"Hehe…how about I show you? My white bishop ticks me off, can you play white?" Sirius asked, opening up his box to reveal old wooden pieces painted white and black. The paint was chipped on most of them, and he scowled when one of the white bishops began ranting something obscene.

"I say. I've never felt so undignified! Do you _know_ how much your trunk smells? Those socks must be a century old!"

Lily blinked twice and began laughing hysterically. Sirius, turning red, whipped out his wand and muttered something to silence the bishop before tossing it back into the box. "Sorry 'bout that. So anyway, set up, will you?"

This last wasn't directed at Lily so much as the black chess pieces, which slowly got up and arranged themselves around the board. Lily looked down at her own pieces and nudged them tentatively. They sprung up much faster and were soon in place.

"Let's play, Evans."

Five minutes later, Lily was shrieking as Sirius's rook beat her knight over the head.

Ten minutes later, Lily was proudly urging her queen toward Sirius's bishop.

Fifteen minutes later…

"Damn, Evans! You actually beat me!"

"Well, _Black_, in case you didn't find out already from my perpetual stalker Potter, I've been playing chess since the age of three. Yes, three," she added, seeing the look of disbelief on Sirius's face. "You weren't half bad, actually. Took me…" she checked the delicate silver watch she always wore "…sixteen minutes to beat you. For someone so bad in class, who knew you'd be decent at chess!"

Sirius scowled at her and said, "If my stupid pieces hadn't…yes, I mean you, you stupid queen!"

Lily laughed again and delicately prodded her chess pieces to get them to put themselves away. She placed the ivory box on the small table in front of the fireplace and walked over to the window. She laughed brightly and threw it open, jumping up onto the windowsill. "Sirius, it's snowing!"

"_Excellent!_ Took long enough. Listen, try to round up everybody in the school and get them outside. There's only ten of us but that should be enough for a decent snowball fight!"

A week later, the Christmas holidays were almost over, and Sirius and Lily had both gone down to Hogsmeade to meet their respective friends. As they shared an inside joke over the snowball fight on Christmas Day, Lily looked a bit uncomfortable.

"What's the matter, Evans?" Sirius looked at her curiously and then smiled.

"Nothing…listen, Sirius. Christmas break was fun but…we don't exactly get along during school time."

Sirius thought of how she had yelled at him about their first Potions project. "You could say that, Lil!"

"Yeah…" she still looked uncomfortable. "I mean, I know _you're_ not as much of a jerk as I thought, but I don't know about Potter…well, look, what I'm trying to say is—"

"You want to go back to how it was before." It wasn't a question.

"I—yeah. I know this sounds ridiculous, but…I have my friends, and you have yours. Let's keep it that way."

"Yeah. Okay. Whatever." And suddenly Sirius did something he hadn't done around Lily since break had started and she'd seen him making a fool of himself. He tensed and his face grew blank, as he closed himself off to Lily completely.

Lily looked at him and took it all in – this new attitude. She looked at him again, apologetically. And then she turned around and walked over to Severus. Sirius saw how Snivellus's eyes widened when Lily said hi to him, how his entire face perked up. Sirius smiled wryly and turned around, sitting down on one of the steps to wait for James, Remus, and Peter.

Suddenly, he saw the train coming in and heard the whistle blowing. Almost before the train drew to a complete stop, James had already jumped off and run to Sirius.

"Hey, mate! France was boring as hell; I spent most of the time writing letters to Remus. Sent you one, but you didn't answer. Why not? What was so bloody interesting here?" James said this all very fast.

Sirius threw a final look in Lily's direction, but then turned to James, away from Lily. "Um…nothing much…Listen, it snowed a few days ago…" and with that, he picked up a bunch of snow and threw it at James's surprised face.

**YAY IT ENDED! I MEAN OH NO IT ENDED!! Annie's sitting next to me right now chanting "more, more, more, more." If you agree, PLEASE REVIEW!! (or die.) Okay, maybe not DIE. Anyway, please review. Don't make me hang a sign around my neck saying "will write for reviews!!" Seriously, though, the faster you review, the faster I update!!**

**I'm gonna try to get a chapter up every week or so…anyway, I'm almost at school…**


	5. Coming Home

**HEY GUYS!!! I'm so happy, I have whole bunch of people who reviewed and put me on their Favs/Alerts. I love you all!!! Oh and, HALLOWEEN ON FRIDAAAAY!!!!**

**Yay.**

The rest of the term flew by in a haze of projects, essays, moon charts, and exams. Lily had a fit when James asked her out right before the train ride home and completely crushed him when she said, "Oh, you were _serious?_ Really, James!"

Although Sirius secretly found this hilarious, he naturally had to pretend to sympathize with his rejected friend on the train. Finally, after a straight half hour of listening to James whine, Sirius bluntly switched the topic.

"Hey, I know we've all talked about this already but, what'd you think of exams?"

James looked surprised for a moment and then said, "Well, Transfiguration was it – it usually it. Charms, though…threw me off a bit when he wanted us to Levitate that feather that was magically on fire already…we'd never done anything like that in class. But I saw Lily do it…she was great. She just…did it." James sighed and looked out the window, leaning his forehead against it.

Remus shot Sirius a _what-are-we-going-to-do-with-him_ look. Sirius didn't roll his eyes – he rolled his whole head. Then he said, "James _get over her. _You've been pining after her since the _first_ day, and now it's the _last_ day. And in case you haven't noticed this, mate, but Lily Evans is _not_ the only girl in our year…actually, speaking of girls in our year, I saw Mary MacDonald shoot you a look at the feast yesterday." He waggled his eyebrows jokingly, and James couldn't help it – he cracked up. Grabbing a Chocolate Frog from the pile, James grinned and started telling them about his plans for the break.

"My mum and dad wanted to take me to Spain for the break, but I _really_ didn't want to go. I mean, I've _been_ to Spain…so they're going down to Spain for a few weekends, which is about how long they can trust me to stay home alone, _they_ think. The last time they left me alone for more than two days…well, we had to redo our entire living room after that. But it wasn't my fault! I had a…bit of a falling out with the house elf when I was nine…but it's all good, she's nice to me now that I've stopped whining for candy. Well, kinda stopped."

Sirius laughed at the guilty look on James's face and said, "Well, at least _your_ house elf doesn't hate your guts!" When he saw the confused look on his friends' faces, he went on. "Stupid Kreacher worships my _mother._" His lip curled and his voice dripped disgust when he spoke of her. "Yes, worships. _She _thinks I'm a disgrace to the family name, so…in a nutshell, I'm the only Black he won't listen to."

Remus smiled wryly and said, "I don't even have anything to say – no house elf."

James and Sirius grinned at his matter-of-fact tone, and then James said, "Hey, listen…I know you lot have probably got better things to do this summer, but anyone want to come stay at my house for a while?"

Remus and Sirius exchanged a look while Peter stared out the window and scratched his nose.

James laughed at the tentative looks on their faces and exclaimed, "Come on…it won't be _that_ bad. My house is _waaay_ too big; you'll all get a room. And Kerrey, the elf, has _the_ most amazing cooking. And part of the backyard looks a bit like a Quidditch pitch, with the hoops and everything. I've got extra brooms. We can camp out at night and stuff. _Please _don't leave me with my _parents_ over the summer."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "James, mate, you're rambling."

"Sorry. Bad habit." He grinned and crossed his eyes.

Remus looked out at the sky where a faint white crescent moon peeked out from behind the clouds. He swallowed hard and said, "I have to ask my parents…I think they'll let me for a…a week or two."

"Cool. Peter?"

Peter shook his head and looked up at James. He took a moment to orient himself and mumbled something along the lines of "Um, yeah, sure, I can come."

"So, Sirius?"

Sirius thought for moment. "Yeah, _she_ will probably let me go – gets me out of the house and out of her sight, you know."

James laughed, and Sirius chose not to say anything. He _was_ being serious but it was easier to let it go than begin the conversation about why his mum hated him.

* * * * *

The four boys got off the train together, still laughing at Peter's latest idiocy. They got to the platform, where a middle-aged man with messy black hair was looking around while talking to a pretty blonde woman.

James's face brightened when he saw them. "Mum! Dad!" His mum ran over and hugged her only son, reluctantly giving him up to his dad. "This is Remus, Peter, and Sirius. They can still come stay with us over the summer, right?"

His dad smiled and said in a deep voice, "'Course. My name's Edward, this is my wife Elizabeth. Pleasure." He shook Sirius's and James hands genially. "James, where's your trunk?" And with that the two, father and son, walked off in search of the trunk.

Sirius smiled rather dazedly at Remus and sat down on his own trunk (he hadn't left it on the train like James had). Suddenly, a weary looking man walked up to them and smiled at Remus. He turned around and silently beckoned to a woman with short brown hair.

Remus grinned at Sirius and said, "My mum and dad, John and Maria. They…they were really worried about me at school, so, you know…"

Sirius cocked his head to one side. "Why were they worried?"

**(Alternate ending/Remus's thoughts:**

"**Because I'm actually a werewolf and they were worried I would kill someone at Hogwarts."**

**With that, Remus launched himself at Sirius's jugular. Remus's dad looked at the bloody scene and shrugged.**

"**Better luck at the next school." He said.**

**While Sirius lay bleeding slowly on the ground, Lily (who had just walked up along with James) turned to James and said, "Well, at least it wasn't you, James." She then proceeded to snog him senseless in the middle of the train station. Peter Pettigrew let out a low whistle and walked away.**

**After Remus finished munching on Sirius, he stood up and said, "Sorry, Mum."**

**With that, he walked away, leaving Lily and James snogging above Sirius's limp form.**

**THANKS AGAIN ANNIE.)**

"Oh…um…grades," Remus said, nodding his head. "Yeah. Grades."

Sirius knew he was lying, but chose not to say anything. Remus had gotten straight O's all year, there was no way his parents could be worried. But if he didn't want to tell anyone, that was his business. Sirius nudged Remus and murmured, "Ask if you can come to James's."

Remus turned to his mum and dad. "James Potter invited me to his house for a while over the summer. Can I?"

His mom shook her head sadly. "Remus, you know better. What if you…get sick…while you're there? You wouldn't want the Potters to have to deal with that."

"Mum, only for a couple of weeks! I'll go when I feel really healthy…please?" Remus turned to his dad.

"Oh fine, Remus. We'll figure out when you can go later, all right?" Maria said, resignedly. "Come on, dear. I've got a casserole in the oven at home, and the faster we Floo, the less the odds are that it'll burn the house down." She laughed and put her arm around her only son. "John, take his trunk, will you?" The small family walked away toward the massive fireplaces lining one of the walls.

Sirius sat back down on his trunk and leaned against the wall. Peter's mum, Jane, soon came by and took her son. Sirius got the general air of preoccupation from her, as if she almost forgot to come get her kid.

Sitting there, waiting for James to come back, Sirius scanned the crowd, not really looking for anything – or pretending he wasn't looking for anything. Every time a flash of red caught his eye, his heart leaped into his throat, only to sink again when it was only a Gryffindor scarf. Finally, bright laughter reached his ears, and he turned in that direction.

Lily was standing several yards away, talking to a man and woman – her parents – and a thin, bony blonde girl of about thirteen. Lily laughed again and tossed her dark red hair over one shoulder.

"Tuney! How come you didn't tell me you got onto the tennis team?" Even though Lily was obviously the youngest, she carried herself like the favorite, the most confident. Her blonde sister had a deepening scowl on her face. Lily's redheaded mother turned to the older girl and pursed her lips.

"Petunia, dear, you said you'd written Lily with the news. You barely sent her _any_ letters, even at Christmas!" The mother turned to her husband and shot him a look.

"Your mother's right, Petunia. You really sho—"

The blonde girl Petunia put her hands on her hips and tossed her hair. "I should do this, I should do that. But everything _Lily_ does is perfect, right? Just because she's the baby, just because she can do _magic tricks_ and please you without effort, _I_ get punished?!"

Sirius gasped. How many times had he himself felt that way? It was Regulus this, Regulus that, every single day. Even Kreacher loved Regulus. Sirius slumped in his seat and thought about this. In fact, he was still sitting there like that when James ran up, followed by his mum and dad.

"Hey, Sirius! Listen, I've gotta run, but I'll owl you about when Peter and Remus can come for the summer…how long do you think you'll be able to stay?"

Sirius thought about that for a fraction of a second before replying, "I don't think my mum will care – as long as I get my homework done, I can stay all summer for all she cares."

"_Really?!_ Excellent! I'll ask my parents if you can! Oh. Darn, I've gotta go. Bye, Sirius, I'll owl you tonight!" With that, James ran off, leaving Sirius alone on the almost empty platform.

A few minutes passed, during which the last family Flooed home, and Sirius sighed. Of course. His mum forgot him.

Suddenly, with a _whoosh_ and a flutter of robes, a tall black-haired woman stepped out of the fireplace. Her chin was held high and she beckoned to Sirius with one hand, before speaking in an ice-cold voice.

"Come, son. I trust you did well on your exams? Though you _are _a _Gryffindor_, I still expect you to honor the name of Black." Her voice when she said the name of the House was a lot like Sirius's when he spoke of her.

Sirius nodded dejectedly and followed her to the fireplace, dragging his trunk behind him.

* * * * *

"James! Left!" Sirius screamed, and then threw the Quaffle toward his best friend. Finally, almost three weeks after getting home from school, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were at James's house. They'd been there for a week already. And it was glorious.

They were flying around the mini-pitch in James's back yard, throwing a ball around and hoping not to smash one of the huge French windows on the mansion behind them.

James caught the Quaffle and did a spin on his broom, hands not even slipping on the massive red ball. Then, he zoomed toward the goalposts where Remus was trying to cover all three hoops at the same time.

BAM! The ball went through the hoop, not even touching the rim. James flew down to the ground and started doing cartwheels.

"That's eight in about ten minutes! If I don't get on the team, they're nuts!" He fell to a sitting position and grinned up at Remus, who was slowly descending to the ground.

The boys went back inside and ate a quick dinner, before running back into the twilight and collapsing on the ground.

"Ah, this is the life…" James said lazily. "Friends, Quidditch, Kerrey's brownies…Would be nice, though, if something exciting happened."

A couple of hours of joking later, Sirius looked up at the sky and frowned.

"What's up, Sirius?" Remus asked, looking up as well. Suddenly, his face paled.

Sirius pointed up at the full moon shining in the purplish black sky. "That's weird, I didn't know it was full moon tonight. Cool! Now we can camp out and Pete won't be scared of the dark."

"Um…guys…I've gotta go home…" Remus backed a few inches away from them.

James bolted upright. "What? No! Come on, you've only been here a _week_. I still haven't shown you th—"

"No, I seriously have to go home," Remus said in a firm voice. He got up and ran to the door inside, intending to Floo home. He pulled on the door. "Damn. It won't open. Why the _hell_ won't it open!"

James blinked at him. "The door's a push, genius."

Remus whacked his forehead with his hand, and then leaned against the door. "What the hell! It _still_ won't open."

James walked over and inspected the door. "Oh, it locked. Okay, um…only my and parents and I can unlock it with this charm…but I left my wand upstairs, since we can't do magic! And my mum and dad are already asleep!" He began rifling through his pockets. "Maybe I've got it here somewhere."

Remus looked around in a panic. "Shit. Now what? Guys, I've _really_ gotta go home."

Sirius looked at him and laughed. "Remus, what's up? Are you like a werewolf or something? Haha, get it? Full moon…werewolf…yeah…"

"It's not funny, dammit!"

Sirius shut up. He gaped for a moment and then squeaked, "Wait _what?_ Come _again?_"

"Yeah, um, kind of! I kind of am!" He screamed. "What do I do? It's full moon and we're _stuck_ out here!"

**OOOOOOH MAJOR CLIFFHANGER!!!**

**Mwahehehehe…heheheh…hehehehe **chokes****

**Okay, anyway…I will try to update soon, but I have a field hockey game tomorrow and my BFF is throwing a little Halloween party!!!**

**So anyway….the more you guys review, the sooner you find out what happens to poor Remus!**


	6. Full Moon

**Blazing fast update skills! You know it! Cliffhanger solved! Also, there's no little side notes or alternate endings in this one, because someone said it was distracting. Should I put them in again?**

**Anyway, while you ponder that, I'll just put in the rest of the story…**

Sirius looked at him and laughed. "Remus, what's up? Are you like a werewolf or something? Haha, get it? Full moon…werewolf…yeah…"

"It's not funny, dammit!"

Sirius shut up. He gaped for a moment and then squeaked, "Wait what? Come again?"

"Yeah, um, kind of! I kind of am!" He screamed. "What do I do? It's full moon and we're stuck out here!"

"You're a werewolf. Riiiiiiiight." James looked at his friend skeptically.

"Oh, shut up, get over it, and help me figure out what the hell to do!"

Sirius thought for a fraction of a second and then looked at Remus. "Okay. Calm down, Remus. I _think_ I've got an idea…James, weren't you saying that your property borders on woods?"

James looked confused. "Well, yeah, but…wait. I think I know what you're saying. But…what about _us?_"

"Peter! Brooms!" Sirius jerked his chin toward the small hut next to the mini-pitch, and Peter started running. "Listen, Remus, this is what we're gonna do. If you're _really_ a werewolf, then there's no way we'll be able to restrain you. So the only hope we've got is to get you into the woods and hope you…um…don't kill all the animals. James and I are gonna fly on the brooms overhead just to check on where you are and stuff. I'll tell Peter to stay here – he's no good on a broom, and we need someone to keep knocking on the door. Oh and…if you're _not_ really a werewolf and you're messing with us…well, then we'll have to kill you."

Remus looked up at the moon again. "Okay. It's not like there's anything else I can do. Let's go."

Sirius thought that he saw Remus's eyes flash yellow, but he dismissed it as an overactive imagination. Sirius yelled, "Then _start running!_"

And Remus did. It wasn't natural, how fast he could run. Before Peter even got back to them with the brooms, Remus was already halfway to the woods. And then the brooms were there and Sirius nodded to James and they simultaneously swung their legs over their brooms. They pushed off the ground and soon settled into a comfortable speed that matched Remus's.

"Doing good, Remus! A couple more yards – there!" Sirius yelled down.

And suddenly, Remus stopped stock-still in the middle of a clearing and looked up at the moon. And this time, there was no mistake. His eyes flashed yellow and a shudder went through his body. Suddenly, a dense coating of hair sprung out of over his body. His muscles rippled and his shirt tore down the middle. And suddenly, it wasn't their shy, weary friend Remus in that clearing. It was a strong wolf standing there.

He lifted his head, yellow eyes glinting, and howled at the moon, sending shivers down Sirius's spine.

And then he took off deeper into the forest.

* * * * *

All night the boys flew above the forest, keeping a careful eye on their friend. They didn't even look away when he finally caught one of the bigger birds and devoured it in seconds. Finally, the first streaks of light broke over the horizon, and Remus had once again stopped in a clearing. He fell onto the ground, writhing in pain as the fur retracted and left him once more a small twelve-year-old boy.

James and Sirius flew down to Remus and crouched down next to him. Sirius looked into his now-brown eyes and muttered, "We're here, Remus. We've been here the whole time."

James smiled at his limp friend. It wasn't his usual cocky grin; it was finally a true smile. He let Remus lean on his arm while Remus sat up.

"Thanks, guys. I…I'm sorry." He shifted his bare shoulders, and the tattered remains of his shirt fell to the ground. His pants, too, were almost gone and Sirius offered him a jacket silently.

Sirius shook his head. "Don't be. It's fine. We're your friends; you're kind of _supposed_ to tell us stuff like that. And frankly, it was fun. Flying all night and everything. How d'you feel?"

"Tired," Remus yawned. "Got a nasty cut on my leg, and a few bruises, but that's nothing new." He rotated his leg and inspected the deep cut there with mild curiosity. "I can share a broom with one of you guys, right? I _really_ don't wanna run all the way back to your house with _this_." He gestured to the cut up leg.

James nodded. "Yeah, 'course. C'mon."

The boys squeezed themselves onto two brooms and were soon landing next to the house, where Peter had finally fallen asleep after knocking on the door for ten minutes. By this time, the sun was peeking over the treetops and Kerrey could be seen through one of the windows, quietly dusting a vase. James banged loudly on the window.

"Oy! Kerrey! Open up!"

The little elf hurried to the door and let them in. "Oh, Kerrey is so sorry, sir. Was sir outside all night?" James nodded. "Did sir get any sleep?"

James exchanged wry smiles with Sirius and Remus, and then shook his head. "Listen, Ker, are Mum and Dad up yet? I've got something really important to tell them. Wait, Remus,_ can_ I tell them?"

"Yeah. I mean, they have to know why my leg is bleeding and stuff."

"Sir's _leg_ is _bleeding?!_" It seemed that those simple words gave Kerrey heart palpitations. "Wait for Kerrey, sir, I have something for you to drink." She bustled off and came back with a steaming goblet of a thick turquoise potion. "Drink, sir."

Remus gulped down the potion in one go and looked down at his leg, where a crusty scab was already forming. "Interesting…my mum's never given me that one before."

Just then, James's parents came in. His mum, Elizabeth, began wringing her hands the moment she saw Remus's bruises and quickly healing cut. "You boys were stuck outside _all night?_ How did you get that cut, Remus, dear? James, you didn't go into the woods, did you? You know you're not supposed to!"

James rolled his eyes. "About that, Mum…Remus here kinda _had _to go into the woods. You see…he kinda forgot to mention this before…so, I mean, I couldn't tell you…because I didn't know…"

Remus whacked him on the arm. "Spit it out! Or I will. See, I'm a werewolf."

It is a testament to how much the Potters loved their son and respected his choice in friends that they did not kick Remus out of the house then and there.

Elizabeth looked at Remus, blinked twice, and then collected herself. "Full moon last night? I'm assuming you forgot. I suppose it can happen. All right, Edward, go Floo his parents. Kerrey, I see you've given him the cut healer…get some of that paste for the bruises, will you? Thanks. Now, boys. You're going to need breakfast."

And almost before Sirius understood what was happening, he was sitting in the Potters' sunny breakfast room and eating a plateful of eggs and bacon.

"Woah. James, mate, your _mum_…I thought she'd freak out for sure!" Sirius said while spearing a bit of egg.

James shrugged modestly. "My mom's good in really weird situations. Like finding out one of her son's best friends is a werewolf."

Remus grinned. "Yup. My parents are gonna be here soon, you know. And you lot probably have fifty or so questions…"

James scratched his nose and then asked, "How long have you…um…had your furry little problem?"

Sirius burst out laughing. "That makes it sound like he has a bad bunny or something!"

"Yeah, well…anyway, how long?"

Remus did the math in his head and said, "About eight years, now. My dad pissed off Greyback when I was about four and…well, here I am."

Peter looked more blank than usual for a moment. "Isn't he that freaky guy who like…bites random kids on purpose?"

"Um, yeah."

"Oh." And Peter went back to his bacon.

The other three stared at him for a moment and then Sirius burst out with, "Have you ever…y'know…_bitten _anyone?"

"God, _no!_ What do you take me for, a monster?!"

"Sheesh, sorry…wait so what do your parents do when…it's full moon?"

"Oh, they put these wards around me so I can't escape, but they put this protection on me so I can't hurt myself."

"Cool…wait, so about at _school?!_"

Remus smiled. "Y'know the Shrieking Shack?"

James cut in. "Yeah, I heard a couple of fifth years talking about it. New superstition in Hogsmeade – there this house on this hill, and once a month, there's like…howling…oh my God, that's _you?!"_

"Hehehe…yeah."

"_Cool!"_ James and Remus yelled simultaneously. Remus what about to comment when –

"Remus? Remus honey! Oh, my poor boy!" Remus's mother ran into the breakfast room and enveloped her son in a hug. From between her arms, you could see Remus's eyes rolling around in their sockets.

"Mum…Mum…I'm fine. I really am! James and Sirius came up with this awesome plan, and I'm fine. Yeah, I cut my leg, and got a couple of bruises, but I'm fine now!"

"Be that as it may, you're coming home right now!"

"_What?!" _James, Sirius, and Remus all gaped at her. Remus went on. "No! I mean, can't I hang out here during the day??? Please?!"

"Fine, honey." She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. "Now, what have you boys been up to? Elizabeth told me that you've been playing a lot of Quidditch…"

And then James cut in, telling the story of Remus's most amazing save.

Remus smiled silently and leaned back in his chair. Finally, he'd told his friends he truth – and they didn't care! They really didn't care – life was good. He grinned even wider as Sirius cut in and yelled, "Hey! That didn't happen! _I_ threw that Quaffle!"

"What? _NO!_ BS!" James said, standing up.

Remus rolled his eyes and thought, _I love my crazy friends._

**Wooh! That's it!!! That's how it happened with Remus! Yaaaaay. Okay, next chapter is gonna be about them coming back to school, and it might be really short. Any ideas to make it longer? Let me know…**

**On a side note – the strange creature known as the "review"…I wonder what it looks like!**


	7. Back to School

**I officially win the longest update ever award. So sorry, guys! I've been busy, but that's not really an excuse…well, it's here now, and that's good, right? Oh, just read it already…**

Lily wound her way through the crowd on Platform 9 ¾, dragging her trunk and family along behind her. Petunia, as always, was complaining enough for three people.

"Why do we have to drop her off? She's not a baby; she's a twelve-year-old second year in her freak school. When _I_ was twelve…" Petunia began.

Lily rolled her eyes. A year ago, when Petunia was twelve, she'd been even more unbearable than she was now, if that was possible. Last summer Lily'd gotten her Hogwarts letter, and Petunia had immediately turned on her. Lily adjusted her tee shirt and began heaving her trunk up into the train carriage.

"Dad? Little help?" Lily asked nudging her dad. Her dad picked up her trunk and easily lifted it onto the step, while Petunia raged.

"_Hello?!_ I'm right here, Dad, I'm still talking! Or have you forgotten about your other, _non-magical_ daughter?" Petunia stormed off back onto the Muggle platform. _To terrorize some innocent toddlers, probably,_ Lily thought. With that comforting thought in mind, she kissed her mom and dad goodbye and jumped up on the carriage after her trunk…

And promptly smacked into someone with messy black hair and laughing hazel eyes. Only now, it wasn't only his eyes that were laughing.

"Evans, if you wanted to give me a hug hello, you needn't have been so…brutal about it!"

She rolled her eyes. "I'd sooner give the Giant Squid a hug hello, Potter. Now, don't you have some candy to eat or something equally stupid to do?"

"If you consider candy stupid, you've _clearly_ never been to Honeyduke's!" A another voice broke in. Lily looked over James's shoulder and saw Sirius. _I've barely talked to him since Christmas break…wonder if he remembers? _She thought. Then, she got a grip on herself and made another sarcastic reply.

"Okay, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, run along now," she said in a baby voice, pointing along the corridor.

James and Sirius exchanged identical looks of confusion, before deciding she wasn't worth it and wandering off along the train, murmuring something about "Tweedle – _what?_"

Lily laughed aloud and muttered, "Right…Muggle book."

Suddenly, her best friend Alice came from around the corner, teasing "Talking to yourself _again, _Lils?"

Lily laughed and then sighed, "Yes, no one understands me the way I do… But really, Alice how was your summer? Mine was horrid – Petunia was home all day, every day."

Alice laughed quietly and said, "Summer was boring. Mary couldn't come to stay at _all_, and then _you_ weren't returning my letters, and Kathy was in France for the summer. My parents kept trying to entertain me and completely failing!"

Lily laughed too. She remembered all that. Mid-way through June her parents had asked her to stop sending letters because it "bothered Tuney". So then she'd begged Mary to come and stay for a while, but Mary'd said no for whatever reason. And as for Katherine Merion…well, they weren't really good friends, but she was the only other girl in their dormitory, so they were on good terms.

"Yeah, sorry about that Alice…anyway, d'you have a compartment saved for us or what? My mum gave me a lot of money for snacks on the train…" Lily dragged her trunk off in the direction Alice led her in, continuing to chatter about what she expected from this year.

After fifteen minutes straight of searching, Sirius had finally found James midway along the train.

"Hey! You seen Remus yet?" James yelled.

Sirius laughed at his to-the-point friend. "No…you seen Peter? Or…" _Lily Evans. Have you seen Lily Evans?_ He wanted to ask. "Frank. Have you seen Frank?"

James shook his head and opened his mouth to ask something else when a trunk landed just next to his foot with a loud thump. "Okay…thank God it missed me!"

And then Lily Evans sprang lightly onto the train and knocked James over, giving him a face-full of dark red hair.

James started laughing loudly and spread his arms wide, saying, "Evans, if you wanted to give me a hug hello, you needn't have been so…brutal about it!"

She got up and dusted herself off. Then she rolled her eyes and retorted, "I'd sooner give the Giant Squid a hug hello, Potter. Now, don't you have some candy to eat or something equally stupid to do?"

Sirius was shocked into speaking up. "If you consider candy stupid, you've _clearly_ never been to Honeyduke's!"

Lily started and looked at him strangely. It _seemed_ like she blushed a bit and bit her lip. Then, her face morphed back and she pointed along the hallway and squealed in a baby voice, "Okay, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, run along now."

James and Sirius shot each other confused looks. Then, they shrugged at each other and wandered off down the corridor.

"Oi! James, Sirius!" Remus walked toward then and grabbed James by the edge of his Muggle sweatshirt. "I got a compartment for us…Peter's already in there. His mom packed him _sandwiches_."

The three boys shared a good laugh over this and then stepped into the compartment.

"Guys, we're almost at Hogwarts. We should change." Remus announced, looking out the window. The others nodded and slowly pulled on their robes. Peter's exposed a good inch of his ankles.

"Peter! Bloody hell, why are you wearing your old robes?" James exclaimed.

"James. Shut up! So, his mom forgot to get him new robes? What's the big deal? Drop it, man." Sirius told him, clapping a hand on his best friend's shoulder.

Just then, the train pulled into the station, and the boys scrambled to hide the piles of Chocolate Frog wrappers under the seats. And then, they walked off the train and—

"Hey!" Frank called, running up to them. "What's up?"

Sirius shrugged. "Nothing much…oh look, the carriages!" He walked around to look at the front of the carriage and gasped. "What the bloody hell is that thing?"

James looked at him strangely. "What? What are you _talking_ about?"

And then Lily ran up behind them and grabbed Sirius's arm. "Y-You can see them, too? I thought I was the only one!"

He looked down at Lily and she nervously let go of him. He cleared his throat and murmured. "Yeah…now I remember, my mum told me about them. Th-thestrals, they're called. You can only them if…um…if you saw someone die."

"Oh. Thanks Sirius, for a moment there, I was really sca—" She cut off and rubbed her neck. "Well, thanks anyway…I'm going to go…see you around Sirius!"

"Yeah, Lily. See you." Sirius smiled as she walked away and then grabbed his upper arm in pain. James had just punched him. Very hard. "What the hell, mate?"

"You're stealing my woman!" James said seriously.

"Oh, come on. She saw the thestrals and so did I! I cleared it up for her!"

James looked slightly convinced by Sirius's pleading tone. "Yeah well, don't clear up anything else for her, okay?!"

"Yeah mate. Now, c'mon, we're gonna be late."

Full to the brim with the delicious feast, Sirius flipped over on his four-poster bed in the Second Year Boys' Dorm (he liked to say that a lot) and looked around.

Remus was lying on his bed curled up with a fat book. He blew a strand of brown hair out of his face and shot Sirius a look. "What?"

Sirius grinned. "Nothing. Look at Peter."

The small boy lay on his bed, fast asleep already, nose slightly twitching. Then, as Remus, Sirius, and James (who'd eavesdropped) watched, Peter turned his face into his pillow and kissed it slowly. Then, he mumbled, "Myrtle…Moaning Myrtle."

James laughed so hard he fell off his bed and sprawled across the floor. Remus promptly dropped his book and leaned against the wall, shaking. Sirius grinned and said, "Yeah. Moaning Myrtle. The girls' toilet ghost. _Great_ taste he has!"

And so, shaking with laughter, the boys dropped off to sleep one by one.

**Yeah, in case you haven't noticed, I really hate Peter. No, really, I hate him. I'd rather not write him at all, but he is there! Ugh…**

**Anyway, next chap will probably be up sooner…here's a hint:**

**One of the boys gets a GIRLFRIEND!!!**

**Anyway, I have homework to do, so I'm out.**


	8. Girlfriend?

**So this update was quite a bit faster! Here's chapter eight!**

Lily was sitting on her bed wrapping up a Charms essay in mid-November when Kathy Merion ran in, dumped everything on the floor, and began jumping up and down on her four-poster bed.

"What _happened,_ Kath?" Lily asked, setting aside her finished essay.

Kathy fell back on her bed and rolled over. "You'll never believe it."

By this point Alice had walked out of the bathroom and was holding Kathy's bag hostage. "Tell us! Tell us or the bag gets it!" She brandished her wand threateningly.

Kathy laughed and sat up. "Okay. But I'm telling you, you'll never believe it!"

Mary put down her book. "Try us," she said drily.

Katherine giggled, clasped her hands under her chin, and squealed _"Sirius Black just asked me out!"_

It didn't make sense. Sirius was her _friend_. Well, he used to be anyway. And Kathy was her friend. Kind of. Well they were friend_ly_. And if Kath and Sirius liked each other then great! So…why couldn't she stand the sight of Kathy?

Lily packed up her Charms essay and put her bag by the foot of her bed. She looked at Alice and Mary and how they sat on Kathy's bed and begged her for details.

"I'm gonna go down to the common room."

Alice nodded absentmindedly and turned back to the story. Lily walked down slowly, clutching her wand in her right hand. She sat down in her favorite armchair in front of the fire and began quietly working on a Charm.

"_Accio quill._" She murmured, pointing her wand. The quill twitched and she sat back in her seat, sighing. And then…James Potter walked up to her.

"Hey." He said, sitting on the arm of her chair. "So listen…Sirius beat me to a girlfriend. Hopefully not by much." James shot her his trademark grin, the one that he'd developed after finally joining the Quidditch team that year.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm single, not desperate," she retorted, and pushed him off the chair.

And then she heard a loud bark of laughter from across the room. _Sirius._

"Lily one, James zilch!" He called, and laughed again. Lily shot him a grin and felt a shiver travel up her spine as he grinned back. She walked over to him quietly, barely registering James's look of outrage.

"So…Sirius."

"So…Lily," he mimicked.

Behind her, she heard James murmur, "so…what the hell is going on here?"

Lily smiled at that and then asked coyly, "So I heard you were going out with Kathy Merion…"

Sirius scuffed his shoes on the floor and then grinned at her. "Yeah. Asked her about five minutes ago, in fact."

Lily smiled again and then made some excuse for going back up to her dorm, where Kathy was still gushing about Sirius. When she saw Lily collapse on her bed, Kathy leaped up and sat next to the redhead, asking, "Can you _believe_ I'm going out with the second hottest guy in our year? The first is James, of course…but it's not like he's _available_, is it?"

_Slut._ Lily thought, and then reprimanded herself for it. Trying to sound nonchalant, she asked, "What do you mean 'James isn't available'?"

"Oh! Well, he's had the biggest crush on you for over a year now…it's like he doesn't even _register_ anyone else!" Kathy said innocently. "But I can't believe _I'm going out with Sirius Black!!"_

"'Going out?' Please. There's nowhere to go! I mean, you can't go into Hogsmeade yet, so what kind of relationship _is_ this?" Lily said, her voice harsh.

Kathy jumped back, shock and hurt on her face. "I know…It's just—"

"And you've never _really_ talked to him. You barely know him, so it's not like you're going to in the hallways. But I suppose you're more of a _broom closet_ type of girl," Lily spat. And with that she grabbed her toothbrush and pajamas and ran into the bathroom.

Kathy went running downstairs. She saw Sirius across the room and ran up to him, grabbing his arm. "Sirius! You won't believe what she just said to me!"

Sirius turned to her, concern on his face. After hearing the entire story, he pulled his arm out of her grasp and said, "I'll talk to her."

"You _can't!_ Stupid Evans is taking a bath and won't even let _Alice_ in!"

Sirius nodded and repeated himself. "I'll talk to her. Somehow." And then he went slowly up to his dorm.

_No one here. Good_. He thought, before opening his trunk and rifling through it. Finally, from the very bottom, he pulled out last year's Christmas gift, from the cracker. **(A/N: Chap 4, for those of you who don't remember.)**

The small glass ball unfolded its silvery wings and floated in front of Sirius. He grabbed it, ignoring the red glow, and tapped it below the left wing. He murmured, "Lily Evans," and watched as the ball began blinking between dark red and spring green. Taking a deep breath, he began to record his message.

Lily sat down in the huge tub, letting the hot water wash over her and work the tension out of her neck. Sure, Kathy wasn't one of her best friends, but still – she'd just basically called the poor girl a slut!

_I'm not a bitch. This isn't me. What the hell was that?_ She mused, sinking farther into the water and letting her red hair loose. One of the longer tendrils snaked past her elbow and she turned her face away, toward the door.

Which someone promptly knocked on.

"Alice, I _told _you! I don't want to talk to you!" Lily yelled. The sound came again. "Bloody hell!"

She got up, water dripping everywhere, and quickly wrapped herself in a towel. Throwing her wet hair over one shoulder, Lily threw the door open and found herself face-to-face with the glass ball Sirius had gotten for Christmas.

"Ohmigod," she gasped. The ball blinked furiously, switching between red and green. She snatched it and slammed the door. Silently, Lily sunk back into the tub, towel forgotten on the floor.

"Um…there!" She muttered, tapping the ball under its right wing.

"_Lily,"_ Sirius's voice came, crystal clear._ "Kathy just ran downstairs screaming that you called her a slut. And I trust Kathy…so, why? Why would you say that to her? She was near hysteria! Lily , we were friends for a while last year. And I really like this girl. Why?"_

Lily took a deep breath, and then tapped the ball. Murmuring Sirius's name, she watched it change color, and then she began recording.

"Look, Sirius. I know what I did was idiotic and mean, don't lecture me! But if you'd seen the way she was acting…she was rubbing it in our faces! All this crap about you being 'the second hottest guy in the year' and how she was so excited…she wouldn't shut up! Anyway, I'm sorry…listen, d'you wanna talk in person tomorrow?"

Sirius sat back on his bed, replaying Lily's message in his mind. He supposed it made sense…he would've snapped at James if something like that had happened. As to talking in person, Sirius had wanted to do that since Christmas.

And so, he sent the message-ball back with two sentences.

"I forgive you. And tomorrow, library, before dinner."

Lily twisted a few strands of hair between her fingers and looked around the library again. _Where the hell is he?_ With a sigh, she began packing her Charms book back into her bag.

"Hey, no blowing me off," came Sirius's normal laughing voice.

Lily smiled and retorted, "You're the one who showed up ten minutes late!"

"Sorry about that…me and Kath got to talking…you know," he explained with a sheepish grin.

Lily felt a twinge in her chest. Ignoring it, she replied, "It's fine. Anyway, it's been so long since we've talked…how's Quidditch?"

"_Awesome!_ James is Chaser and he's really good. But then, he's been playing on his backfield since forever. I got made a Seeker and that's fun…feel bad for Remus, though. He tried out for Keeper and didn't get picked. Well, the guy who got picked over him is a seventh year, so next year, Remus is definitely gonna be it!"

Lily rolled her eyes and rested her chin in her hands, occasionally nodding to his Quidditch babble.

It was good to have her friend back, even if they couldn't spend much time together.

**That's all that really matters to the plot, but in case anyone cares, Kathy and Sirius only went out for a week – he thought she was clingy and annoying. Lily and Sirius didn't talk **_**much**_** because of their different groups of friends, but he would sometimes send her messages with the faux-Snitch.**

**I wanna wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving! Especially Alison, Annie, Annabel, and Ben who've been reading from the beginning and convincing me to keep updating when I had writer's block a couple of weeks ago. Love ya guys!**

**And REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!! Please? I'm desperate!**


	9. Electives and the Cup

**Thank you to the single person who noticed my mistake in the last chapter. You were so right – there **_**is**_** only one Seeker on a team. I meant to make James a Chaser à la the book, but made a small typo and called him a Seeker. It's fixed now!**

**Anyway, on with the story!**

The middle of May had finally rolled around, and it was time for the second years to pick their electives for the next year. Faced with an array of five very different choices, Sirius was contemplating jumping off the Astronomy Tower. But Lily apparently had it even worse.

"The thing is," she said at their now-weekly Saturday talk in the common room, "you grew up around wizards. So you _know_ the different jobs there are and you _must_ have some idea of what you want to do. I have no idea what the wizarding world can offer! What electives are _you_ going to take, Sirius?" Lily anxiously twisted a lock of hair around her index finger.

Sirius cleared his throat and said, "Well, I'm taking Care of Magical Creatures…Merryweather's got that, but Hagrid helps teach it, and he's fun. Then I'm thinking about Divination because all of us guys are going to take it…and I'm probably going to take one more, I just don't know which yet. James is trying to drag me into Muggle Studies, because apparently it's an easy O, but I dunno. I want something different…maybe Arithmancy?"

Lily fought very hard to keep from laughing. "You sure? I mean, you're smart Sirius, I know _that_, but you're not…well, you don't really concentrate that well. And Angela in third year says that it's really complicated."

"You don't think I can handle it?" Sirius asked, a mock look of indignation on his face.

"Oh, I'm sure you can do it, Sirius…it's just, will you keep interest?" Lily stared at him for a moment and then went on. "I think I'm going to take Arithmancy anyway, I always liked arithmetic in my Muggle school. So we'll be in class together!"

"_Excellent!_ Don't drop out, it's supposed to be hard alone."

"Don't worry, I'm taking the class, Sirius."

"Oh good," he said, relieved. "What about Divination and Care of Magical Creatures?"

"I'm probably going to take those, too. And Ancient Runes sounds _fascinating. _So does Muggle Studies of course, but I'm _Muggleborn_, I think I know rather a lot about Muggles!"

Sirius chuckled and then said, "Will you be able to handle another two classes with James?"

"Ugh, Potter," she groaned, frowning. "I swear, Sirius, I don't know _how_ you put up with him! Still, I'm sure I'll manage. Somehow. Anyway, I think I'm going to take those three, maybe Ancient Runes, too."

"Good picks…so listen, you coming out to the Quidditch match next week? I finally figured out how to do the Wronski Feint without looking like an idiot. Took me long enough, I mean, it's been almost a year! Can't wait to try it out on Nott…"

"Sev!" Lily called out after dinner the next Wednesday. The Gryffindor Quidditch team had one of their notorious extended pre-game practices, and Mary and Alice were down in the pitch giggling over Sirius and James. So when Lily saw Severus Snape in the hallway, she jumped at the chance of conversation.

He turned around, a big smile on his face. "Lily. We haven't talked in _ages._"

"Oh, I know, Sev! Listen, I was thinking about electives. D'you know what you're taking yet?" Lily unconsciously tipped her head to one side, letting her hair fall into her eyes. Snape fought the urge to brush the dark red strands aside.

"Oh, um…I'm taking Ancient Runes, and Muggle Studies, and—" Lily's face fell. "What's the matter?"

"Runes and Muggle Studies? I'm not taking either of those…" She said, biting her lip. "I never see you anymore, you're always hanging around with Mulciber and Avery." She said the two names with disgust. "I _really _hate those guys."

"Oh, come on, Lil, they're not all bad…"

"Whatever. So, are you taking a third elective? Because I'm taking the other three!"

"Oh, I'm taking Arithmancy as well."

"_Really?!_ So am I! Well, I just said that. But still! Finally, another class together!" Lily beamed at her oldest friend.

Snape smiled back at her. "Well, you've _got_ to take Arithmancy, I mean, it's serious but also supposedly fun. And, like you said, we don't see each other much."

"Don't worry, I will."

"So you're taking Divination and Magical Creatures?"

"Oh, yeah. I think it's incredible! And besides, I've always loved animals…"

Snape shook his head at her babble. "Lily, Hagrid helps teach that class."

"So?"

"So…he got expelled from Hogwarts in his third year. He won't tell anyone why. He carries that pink umbrella around obsessively, and _I_ think it's got the pieces of his old wand in it. And he's not even fully human!"

Lily gasped. "Severus Snape! How _dare_ you? First, you allude to something that Hagrid is obviously very ashamed of. Then, you insinuate that he does magic illegally. And finally, you use his birth and parentage against him as a _derogatory term_ and an _insult! _What's next, insulting _me_ for being Muggleborn?"

Snape stopped dead in the middle of the hallway. "Lily, I would _never_ insult you."

"Well, don't insult anyone else in my presence either." And with that, Lily flounced off to her dormitory to curl up on her bed with a book Sirius had let her borrow lately, _101 Ways to Prank Your Friends (So They Don't Know How You Did It)._ **(A/N: Another first year Xmas present. Chapter 4, people!)**

Lily sat down at breakfast on Saturday morning, watching as the Heads of House made their way around their tables to the second years. She swallowed the lump in her throat, and turned to Mary and Alice.

"So you guys are taking Div and Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies, right?"

Mary nodded through a mouthful of eggs and nudged Alice. Alice rolled her eyes and said, "Since I'm pureblood and Mary's half-and-half, we don't _know_ much about Muggles. I think the class should be really interesting…And Div seems cool – being able to know the future! As for Magical Creatures, that's just fun."

Lily smiled. "I'm taking Div and Magical Creatures and…well, I think Arithmancy. It seems cool and I promised S—a friend. I promised a friend."

Mary and Alice exchanged a look. It was clear they were wondering if she meant she promised Severus or Sirius. The truth was, Lily didn't know herself.

Lily looked up and pointed down the table. "Oh look! McGonagall is almost here." Said professor was currently taking the sign-up sheet back from Sirius, who caught Lily's eye and mouthed _Arithmancy _with a question in his eyes. Lily grinned and nodded back at him while accepting her own sign-up sheet from McGonagall which read as follows.

_At the beginning of your third year of study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, you have the option of enrolling in additional courses. These five elective classes are designed to give you the ability to extend your knowledge of the different fields of magic and to allow you to better make a choice of what you are interested in outside of the basic subjects._

_Please remember that these courses will be __added__ to your current schedule. The seven basic subjects (Astronomy, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, and Transfiguration) are mandatory for all students in years one through five._

_Please put a check next to the classes you desire to enroll in for the future._

_Ancient Runes (Prof. E. Lorient)_

_Arithmancy (Prof. I. Petrova)_

_Care of Magical Creatures (Prof. J. Merryweather, Mr. R. Hagrid)_

_Divination (Prof. P. Dorsten)_

_Muggle Studies (Prof. G. Gallagher)_

Lily took a deep breath as she read through the aims of the elective courses. Sounded serious. And pompous. And incredibly scary. Shaking her head, she check next to Arithmancy, Divination, and Care of Magical Creatures. After handing her paper in to McGonagall, she turned to Alice and Mary and began discussing Gryffindor's chances of beating Slytherin in the Quidditch match today.

"Woah!" Sirius yelled, rolling his Nimbus 500 to the left, out of the way of a speeding Bludger. Blinking to clear his vision, Sirius flew above the other players and scanned the field. Anne Meyers, a Gryffindor fifth year, always did the commentary at the matches, so he absentmindedly tuned in to what she was saying.

"And Potter steals the ball from Jacobs, what a _player_ that kid has turned out to be, I had no idea in September! He dodges one Bludger, another, and Avery from the Slytherin team. He takes the shot on Lestrange and – SCORE!!! GRYFFINDOR LEADS 70-40! And it's Patterson for Gryffindor with the Quaffle…"

Sirius flew a victory lap around the pitch. Jacobs was by far Slytherin's best Chaser – he was in the _sixth year_, for goodness's sake! And James, a second year, had just stolen the Quaffle from him! Sirius sped past the Slytherin goalposts. _Wait._ He thought, turning around slowly, so as not to draw attention. _Was that…the Snitch?_

He flew a bit closer to the ground and spotted the elusive golden ball out of the corner of his eye. It was about 20 yards down and maybe another 20 to the right. Looking back up, Sirius spotted the Slytherin Seeker, Alexander Nott, 5 yards up, watching and waiting.

Sirius tuned out the commentary ("Slytherin scores! That's 80-50 to GRYFFINDOR!") and decided on a course of action. Suddenly veering slightly to the left, away from the Snitch, he sped down toward the ground. Nott was pulling up behind him…the Chasers had stopped playing and were gaping at them…Anne Meyers was screaming…

"Black has DEFINITELY seen something! He's speeding down, Nott's following. Nott's got the better broom and they're almost neck and neck…what's this? Black SWERVES TO THE RIGHT!! Nott's heading for the wall…BAM! Nott's down! And Black's still speeding—SIRIUS BLACK HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH FOR GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR WINS!!! That brings the score to 230-50 for GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR GETS THE CUP!!!"

Sirius flew down to the ground and was quickly enveloped in a hug by the rest of the House. James, Peter Corner, and Greg Johnson, the three Chasers, were down first and were soon parading around the field. The Keeper and Captain, Neil Wood, was flying victory laps with his girlfriend…it was his last year at Hogwarts, and his first with the Cup. And the two Beaters, Andrew and Arthur Bailey were invisible amidst a crowd of Gryffindor students. Sirius looked around and saw a flash of red heading toward him.

Lily ran into his arms and squealed, "You _won!_ You got the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor!!!"

Sirius held her out at arms length and said, "What happened to Quidditch 'not being the most important thing on Earth?'"

Lily hugged him again. "Oh, who cares? You _won!!_"

And then James walked up.

"Hey, Evans, no hug for me? I _did_ score 5 out of those 8 shots…"

Lily rolled her eyes and said, "Potter, shut up. It's not as if you're the one that caught the Snitch to seal the game!"

Sirius shrugged at his best friend. Hey, she was right. They were practically third years with _electives _and _Hogsmeade privileges, _and Sirius was the Seeker that had finally gotten the Cup for Gryffindor and taken it away from Slytherin for the first time in nine years!

**Another chapter done! This chapter's actually getting posted a few days after I finished it, but I didn't have internet at my grandparents' house over Thanksgiving. SORRY! **

**Anyway, drop me a review with your feedback. And next chapter's probably going to be summer. I've started writing it and I'm probably just going to talk about them getting off the train and then a few small drabbles about the girls' and guys' separate summers. I might throw in a few correspondences between Sirius and Lily. Tell me what you think in a review, kay? THANKS! **


	10. Starting Summer

**Hey, sorry this one took a while to update. It's concert season in my school and I had one Wednesday, and I have another next Thursday…don't expect any updates **_**then**_**!**

**I actually completely changed my plan for this chapter. When you get to the end, you'll get the plan a little better.**

**This is chapter 10!!! Double digits people!!!**

Lily swung her curtain of hair back over one shoulder and dragged her trunk off the Hogwarts Express. It was finally June 1st, and the summer holiday was due to start in about ten minutes. She grinned at Mary and Alice and said, "We have _got_ to get together this summer. I'd invite you guys to my house, but both my parents are Muggles _and_ I've got Petunia to deal with. I wouldn't wish her on anyone! And I'd love to spend some time in a wizarding household."

Alice nodded, her blonde curls bouncing. "I'll ask my parents if you guys can come. Remember how my mum's a Healer? Well, she's not working much this summer, so she'll be home a lot. So she'll be able to take us places!"

"Excellent! My parents are working all the time now, so I had no idea what I was going to do all summer!" Mary squealed, dragging her trunk along and brushing her mousy brown hair back.

"All right, I see my stupid sister whining over there. I better go see what that's all about," Lily excused herself and headed off in the general direction of her awfully Muggle family.

"Lil, just the girl I wanted to talk to," Sirius began, coming up to her and helping her with her trunk.

"Hi, Sirius…" Lily said drily.

"Hey to you, too. Now listen. The little message-ball thing has been great, but I just found out it doesn't travel long distances. And my mum isn't getting me an owl any time soon. I mean, my brother's starting Hogwarts next year, and she's buying him an owl. The theory is that he'll let me share, but we all know that's not going to happen." Sirius paused to take a breath.

"That's nice, Sirius, but what was your _point?_" Lily asked, fighting her way through a group of older students.

"Oh. Right. The point. Um, try to convince your parents to get you an owl, okay? I mean, they're probably not going to take you into Diagon Alley until later, but since you're already in London…I mean, this must sound so bratty, asking _you_ to get the owl, but I'm spending the summer with James, and you're my only hope for keeping some of my sanity."

Lily laughed and said, "I'll see what I can do, Sirius." Siriurs nodded at her and walked off. Severus soon took the empty place at her side.

"Hi, Lily." Severus began.

"Oh, hi. So listen, I'm not going to be able to spend that much time with you this summer, I'm probably staying with one of the girls…"

"Oh." His face fell. "Well, d'you need any help with your trunk?"

Lily switched her heavy trunk to the other hand and shook her head. "Nah, I'm fine."

Severus nodded absentmindedly. "Okay…I've gotta go, then. My mom's hopefully gonna come soon."

"'Kay," Lily responded, only half listening. So she didn't see his disappointed face and the way he looked over his shoulder a few times while walking away. Lily was too busy scowling at her older sister. "Petunia," Lily said with a curt nod. Then, turning toward her parents, she smiled brightly. "Mum! Dad! How are you guys?"

Her parents hugged her close and began some trivial conversation about Petunia's tennis team. Lily shook her head and interrupted. "Well, that's great, Tuney, but I was wondering if we could stop by Diagon Alley…I, um, really need an owl."

Petunia crinkled her nose. "An _owl?_ Why would you want one of those filthy birds? It'll only mess up your room. And besides, where would you get one?"

"Oh, Tuney, weren't you listening? In Diagon Alley! They're like mail carriers! And even though my friends asked me to stay with them this summer, it's nice having a surefire way to communicate. Besides, the owls don't mess up _anything_. They're really neat, and they can live in a cage," Lily began spouting out any positive information she had about owls in the hopes that one of the random facts would convince her parents to buy her one of the birds.

Sirius watched as Lily tried to convince her parents to get her an owl. He knew he owed her a big favor, but it would be worth it if they had some way to communicate over distance. His conversations with her were unlike any other, and he would really miss the girl if they couldn't talk.

"Hey. Stop staring at my girl," James said, only half joking.

Sirius grinned and said, "So are we spending the summer at your place, James?" James nodded.

Remus looked worried and mumbled, "I can come but I'll have to leave once a month to…you know…" he let the sentence hang there.

James nodded. "Yeah. Oh listen, we were thinking. Sirius and Pete are gonna go home, too, the same days that you have to, so that you don't feel left out."

"Thanks. It's gonna be such a pain having to leave to…uh…"

Peter looked up, confused. "To what?" This naturally brought on a round of laughter from the other three boys.

James rolled his eyes and said, slowly and clearly, "He's gonna need to deal with his _furry little problem_."

Sirius cracked up. "Remus, why didn't you tell me you had a bad rabbit! What did you name him? Fluffy?!" Remus whacked his friend in the head and kept walking with his trunk.

"So, James, Sirius, listen. I'm gonna go home for a couple of weeks just to visit and then I'll probably go to James's…I'll owl you, alright?" Remus said, only a few steps from his parents.

James nodded. "Yeah, okay. Or just Floo over whenever you like. I mean, Sirius is coming straight to my house, so we'll probably be home all the time."

Sirius nodded grimly. "I really wish I didn't have to go home at all, but I've got to. I mean, like James said, to be fair to you, and also because my mum wants me to tell Regulus some about Hogwarts. Ugh."

The other boys groaned a bit along with him, and then they all went off to their respective families. Except Sirius. With an "I'll give you a minute with your folks", Sirius walked back up to Lily and pulled her aside from her family.

"Hey…did you ask them?" Sirius said quietly.

Lily didn't need to ask what he was talking about. "Yeah…"

"And?"

"We're actually heading into Diagon Alley right now!"

"No!" Sirius exclaimed incredulously.

"Yes!" Lily mimicked. "The best part was Tuney's face when she saw that I was getting my way. Not even _I_ thought that I would get my way."

"That's awesome!" Sirius stopped in the middle of the emptying platform. He looked at Lily seriously and asked, "Owl me the second you get it, alright?"

"Yeah…" Lily looked up and grinned. "Potter wants your attention."

"Oi! Sirius! Me and my parents are leaving, dunno about you!" James yelled.

Sirius rolled his eyes, said goodbye to Lily, and walked into one of the huge fireplaces with the Potters.

Lily shook her head a bit and then walked into Muggle London with her family.

"Ohmigod. Mom! Look at _that_ one!" Lily gushed, stepping into Eyelop's Owl Emporium. In addition to selling treats and other things for the care of an owl, they had a wide selection of owls. Lily was currently ogling a sleek, pitch black owl.

And then a petite plump woman with coarse dark hair and waxy pale skin walked up to Lily and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Flashy, that one is. But he ain't your style, really. Name's Amelia Warbeck – work in the shop now, friend o' th' family owns it." Amelia guided Lily over to a few cages with reddish brown feathers. "Here, I think you'll prefer one of these. Northern Reds, we call 'em. Not really official, but the name makes sense, donnit?"

Lily blinked a few times at the excess of (improper) speech. Then she looked closer at the owl directly in front of her. It had dark red-brown feathers and clear gray eyes. The light shifted and she could have sworn those were Sirius's eyes. She shivered slightly. "Can I…hold this one?"

"'Course ya can, dearie. Just a mo', I don' really handle th' birds. _Tina! Celestina!_" Amelia yelled.

A small girl with almost white skin and dark wispy hair came up. "Yes, mother?" Lily started. This slender, well-spoken girl with the soft curls was _that_ woman's daughter? The small girl looked into the cage for a moment, and then expertly flicked the latch open and pulled the owl out, presenting the bird to Lily. "You can hold him if you like. He's one of the smarter ones…"

And looking at the owl, Lily knew, even before she held him, that this was the bird she would bring home.

Sirius was sitting on James's bed, retelling yet again the tale of Peter plowing into the wall at Quidditch tryouts. Sirius was just miming Peter falling off his broom when a knocking came from the window. Looking up, Sirius spotted a reddish-brown owl knocking against the window.

James flung the window open and untied the envelope from the owl's leg. He looked at it for a moment. "It's for…you."

Sirius snatched it and ripped it open. In clear round writing, the following was written.

_Sirius,_

_It feels strange writing your name after a year of just murmuring it to the message-ball._

_Yours is the first letter __my owl__ is delivering. Canis, I've named him. From Astrology, you know. He's a brilliant creature, and an excellent judge of character. Indeed, when presented to Petunia, Canis promptly bit her pinky. A wonderful bird._

_I haven't much experience with owl post. I hope I've addressed this the right way. Oh, and I know you haven't an owl, but James's family is bound to have one…would you give Canis a treat or two? He's a dear, but he hasn't flown much lately. Besides it was his first delivery._

_All right, I'll stop babbling now and send this off. I'll be at Alice's pretty much all break, by the way, just so you know. As they say in France—_

_Répondez, s'il te plaît,_

_Lily_

Sirius read through the letter quickly and then looked up at the owl. The bird blinked his huge, clear grey eyes and cocked his head to one side. Sirius grinned.

"Oi, James, have you got an owl treat for Canis here?"

James nodded and passed the treat to Sirius, who fed the bird. Sirius smiled apologetically at his best friend and replied to Lily's letter in his customary scrawl.

**Okay, so in the next chapter, I'm going to just put all the letters that Sirius and Lily wrote each other over the summer…see, that way you get to see what's going on with both of them, and they still communicate.**

**And I was just wondering…how many of you are actually SiriusLily shippers? And how many are just reading because you like the fic?**

**Revieeeeeeew!!!**


	11. Writing Letters

**Kay, there's gonna be a bit of French in this one, but don't worry, I'll include the English afterwards for those of you ****qui n'étudie pas le français.**** (Who don't take French.) Also, "Lys" is pronounced somewhere between "lee" and "li" as only the French can put it.**

**And to those of you qui étudie le français…I'm sorry if there's any mistakes, I tried, and I am only on my second year!!!**

**Also, I know that traditionally letters are put in italics, but since this is a chapter of them, I decided to make it easier to read and just make the type regular.**

June 1st

Sirius,

It feels strange writing your name after a year of just murmuring it to the message-ball.

Yours is the first letter _my owl_ is delivering. Canis, I've named him. From Astrology, you know. He's a brilliant creature, and an excellent judge of character. Indeed, when presented to Petunia, Canis promptly bit her pinky. A wonderful bird.

I haven't much experience with owl post. I hope I've addressed this the right way. Oh, and I know you haven't an owl, but James's family is bound to have one…would you give Canis a treat or two? He's a dear, but he hasn't flown much lately. Besides it was his first delivery.

All right, I'll stop babbling now and send this off. I'll be at Alice's pretty much all break, by the way, just so you know. As they say in France—

Répondez, s'il te plaît,

Lily

June 2nd

Lily,

Doesn't feel strange writing your name at all. Maybe that's because of all the notes James has passed me about you – I had to reply to them all! 

And you're right; it's a great owl. And also apparently a good judge of character, judging by what he did to Petunia. I find it strange that you named your owl after a Dog constellation. And actually, I knew what Canis was beforehand – the brightest star is Sirius, after all. But you probably knew that already, Miss I-Know-The-Answer-To-Every-Question-Before-They-Ask-It.

Anyway, James is looking at me right now with a rather annoyed look on his face, so I'd better go. Will you be able to send letters from Alice's? I'm pretty sure I'll find time to write here at James's.

Et j'ai répondu, Lys. **(And I've responded, Lily.) **(You didn't know I speak French, did you?)

Sirius

June 18th

Sirius,

So sorry I haven't written back sooner, the girls and I have been going down to the shore with Alice's family a lot lately. I think I will have some time to write here at Alice's…I have to sneak my letters past the girls, though, because every time they see me with a letter of yours, they think we're flirting or that I have a crush on you. Silly girls.

I don't want to know what kind of notes he's been writing! It's so annoying when he calls me Lily Flower.

Et non, je n'ai su pas que tu parler français. Tu ne parle pas français en école. Pourquoi ?

Et pourquoi nous écrivons en français ?

**(And no, I didn't know you speak French. You never speak French at school. Why? And why are we writing in French?)**

Anyway…I did know that the star Sirius was in Canis…That's kind of why I named him that! Have you seen Canis's eyes? They're grey…the same shade as yours.

Lys

_Lily sent that letter off with queer butterflies in her stomach – what kind of girl looks at an owl an immediately notices that the bird's eyes are the same shade as her friend's? __Just__ her friend's. That's all Sirius was to her. Right?_

June 30th

Lys,

It's fine you haven't written back…it took me a while, too. I think both of our writing is going to slow down quite a bit, ma Lys.

You're completely right; Canis's eyes are apparently the same shade as mine according to James. And speaking of James, why don't you like being called Lily Flower? Would you rather I said it in French, fleur de lys?

Oui, tu t'appelles Lys, mon amie. Pas "Lily." **(Yes, your name is "Lys", my friend. Not "Lily".)**

And I never speak French at school because there's no reason! How would it seem if I randomly started speaking French? And I don't know why we were writing in French…mais c'est drôle, Lys! **(But it's funny, Lily!) **

Anyway, Remus arrived today. So did Peter, but he doesn't count, not _really_. You know.

Oh, just a random question…what do you know about Animaguses?

Au revoir, ma Lys,

Sirius

_Sirius watched Canis fly off, wondering why was he calling Lily "__his__" twice in one letter. Well, she was his friend. That was all he meant. Right?_

July 14th

Sirius,

Please _don't _call me Lily Flower or fleur de lys. Plain Lys I don't mind, but flower's James's nickname for me, and just has horrid connotations (_because _it is James's nickname for me).

Actually, speaking of French, it's Bastille Day, did you know? Alice had no idea, and when I told her, she absolutely insisted on making a bit of a feast in honor of the day. Hilarious, really.

And as for Animagi (that is the proper plural), they are, as you probably know, people that can take the form of an animal. It's really complicated to learn and takes _years_. At NEWT level, no sooner. In fact, most Animagi didn't fully master it until they were well out of school. Actually, all Animagi have to register their names and their animal with the Ministry.

Why do you need to know, anyway, Sirius?

As for the French, you're right, it is funny.

I've got to go, Sirius.

Ta Lys

_Lily swallowed the knot in her throat and folded up the parchment. He'd called her his Lily. His __friend__ Lily. So it was only natural that she reply in kind – she didn't mean anything by "ta Lys" except for sincere friendship._

_She repeated that mantra a few times as she sent Canis out the window._

July 23rd

Ma meilleure amie, **(My best friend)**

Bastille Day? Really? Completely missed the date. Felt a bit ashamed, actually, when Canis arrived with your letter and I had had no clue.

And I didn't really have a reason about asking about Animagi (ha, I got it right)…the guys and I were just talking about it one night. How cool it would be, you know.

And James is getting _really_ jealous of all this letter writing we've been doing. He came right out yesterday and asked me if I was trying to "steal you away". Hilarious, it was all I could do not to laugh.

Anyway, have you gotten your Hogwarts letter yet? I got mine a couple of days ago and I was thinking that we could go into Diagon Alley at the same time…but if you don't want to put up with James while we're there, je comprende. **(I understand.)**

Sirius

_Sirius decided to address the letter to "his best friend", hoping to throw off any suspicions Lily might be harboring. He was trying to explain the recent use of possessive pronouns, both to Lily and to himself._

_Lily read the letter Canis brought her, ignoring the faint twinge in her chest when he called her his "best friend"._

July 31st

Sirius,

Oui, I got my Hogwarts letter a while ago. Rather exciting, seeing the long list of books for our electives. But the bit that excited me the most was the Hogsmeade permission slip. My parents signed right away, of course. You've simply got to get your mother to sign. And how about meeting in Diagon Alley the 4th of August? It's a Saturday, so Alice's parents will be home. They'll take the girls and I in that day…ask James's parents if they'll take you guys, okay?

And you can tell James that we're just friends. And besides, he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell anyway, so he might as well get over it. 

Et je n'ai su pas que je suis ta meilleure amie **(I didn't know I was your best friend)…**what will James say?

And you're so right; being an Animagus would be amazing. Wonder what animal I'd be…you seem rather doggy to me, Sirius.

I've got to go…let me know about Diagon Alley, all right?

Ta "meilleure amie" Lys

August 1st

Lys,

Oh finally, a quick reply, right? Anyway, I will meet you in Diagon Alley the 4th, all right?

I might have to stop writing letters for the rest of the summer though, the guys and I are working on a new prank for next year and it's taking up a lot of my time.

Et oui, Lys, tu es ma meilleure amie…James est mon meilleure ami. **(You're my best girlfriend; James is my best guy friend.)**

And what do you mean, I'm "doggy"? Excuse me???

Au revoir, à le quatre, ton ami toujours,

**(Goodbye, til the 4****th****, your friend always)**

Sirius

_It was fine that he'd signed it "your friend always"…he meant it. And he meant __just__ friends._

August 5th

Le chien Sirius, **(The dog Sirius)**

Yesterday was so much fun! Remember Peter in Madame Malkin's, making all the robes crash to the ground. I was so embarrassed! James was a pain as usual, but I'm learning to ignore him, thank goodness.

And you are one of the doggiest people I know! You're loyal and funny, and you're hair's even shaggy. You are such a dog! Anyway, it's fine if you don't reply to this one, I know you're busy.

So am I actually, so I'll see you on the Hogwarts Express, mon ami.

Au revoir, à septembre,

Ta Lys

_Lily would miss these friendly letters. It was nice having a guy friend when her girlfriends annoyed her. Ah, well, they had to get on with their summers. She still had a lot of homework left._

_But she really hoped he'd find the time to write back._

August 31st

Lys,

Sorry it took so long, I really was busy…Diagon Alley was hilarious, you're right…

I'll see you tomorrow, then…

Sorry this is such a short little thing, but I've still got to pack…oh and you'll be happy to know that I got my Hogsmeade slip signed.

Got to run, ma Lys,

Sirius

_He sent off the letter feeling a bit guilty for not writing for so long. He knew he'd feel horrible if she didn't write for that long. Because she was his friend. And he liked to keep in contact with his friends._

_Yeah…that was right._

**Another chapter done! Next one's gonna be September 1****st****, on the train. Should be interesting watching then interact after a summer of letters.**

**And I know the little crush is developing kind of quick…I didn't want it to come out until like 5****th**** year, but that's taking too long. I'll probably just have them keep it a secret and act all awkward around each other, like people do in real life.**

**If you have any ideas on how to drag it out a bit more, let me know!!!  
**

**And remember, good things come to those who review.**


	12. Awkward

**Ah! I've finally written them to the point where they're as old as I am! Thank goodness, now I can just write their dialogues the way my friends and I would say it.**

**And I want to thank ALL of my wonderful reviewers and readers, especially kate/velvetrhymes (did you really get an account just for my story updates? I feel so loooved!!!) and Rita Arabella Black (I love reading your reviews). THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.**

**And it just hit me that I've been forgetting the disclaimer this entire time…**

**Disclaimer (finally): I don't own ANYTHING! Not in this chapter, or the other eleven…it all belongs to JKR.**

Lily fought her way through the crowd on Platform 9 ¾, looking for Alice and Mary. Catching a glimpse of Alice's short blonde ringlets, Lily kissed her parents goodbye (Petunia had stayed home) and made her way over to her friends.

"Hey!" Lily hugged her friends and nodded along as they told her about their new electives and the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"Lily Flower! Did I miss anything but you all summer?" James said, throwing one long, tan arm around Lily's shoulders. Sirius was standing next to him, laughing.

Lily rolled her eyes at Sirius and shrugged off the offending limb. "James…why don't you go do something productive and curl up and die?"

James clutched at his heart in mock pain. "Lily Flower! That hurts. That really hurts. I…I think you broke my heart!" Sirius snorted and awkwardly waved to Lily.

"Hi," Sirius muttered.

Lily threw her arms around his neck (James muttered angrily), and then awkwardly stepped away. "Salut. Ça va?" **(Hi. What's up?)**

Sirius shrugged his shoulders and made some noncommittal noise. Shooting Lily one final grin, he got on the train.

"James! Stop drooling over your non-girlfriend and get a move on! My brother's gonna be getting on the train soon, and there is _no way_ I am sharing a compartment with him." With that, Sirius walked off along the train, looking for a compartment.

Lily swallowed the unexplainable lump in her throat and narrowed her eyes at James. "Really, James. Go!" James ruffled his jet-black hair and jumped lightly onto the train, chasing after Sirius.

Alice gave Lily a pointed look and then mouthed "Sirius?" while raising her eyebrows.

"Oh my God, Alice, we're only friends!" Lily rolled her eyes, and went off in search of a compartment.

Five minutes later…

"I cannot believe this!" Lily half-yelled angrily. "All the compartments are _full?!_"

Alice put a hand on her best friend's shoulder while Mary peeked in the window of the compartment they were next to.

"There's only four people in this one!" Mary exclaimed. "But, they're—"

"Oh thank goodness!" Lily cut her off. "The train's due to leave in…right now!" The three girls felt the train jolt as it began moving. "C'mon!"

She tugged on the door and stepped inside.

Sirius felt the train begin moving and raised his Chocolate Frog to James.

"To Hogsmeade!" Sirius announced.

The three other boys laughed. "To Hogsmeade!"

And that was when the door opened and Lily Evans made her way inside, red hair blowing all over the place.

"Can my friends and I sit here, everywhe—" Lily looked around. "Oh. It's…_you_ guys."

"Hi to you too, Lily Flower. And of course you can sit here! It'll be just like first year!" James said cheerfully.

Sirius cocked one eyebrow. "Minus her storming out, you mean."

"Yes, well, minus that then," James added in. "But, go ahead, Lily, sit. In fact…" James dumped the candy off his lap. "You can sit right here." This naturally brought on a round of laughter from everyone except Lily.

"Ugh! You're _impossible_!" She huffed, and dropped into a corner seat, curling her legs under her and burying her nose in a book. Alice and Mary shrugged apologetically and sat down next to her.

"Oh Lily Flower…" James called from about two feet away.

Lily scowled up at him and barked, "What do you _want?_"

"Would you like a Chocolate Frog? Sweets for the sweet…" James said, holding out some chocolate.

Lily suddenly grinned evilly and picked up a handful of almonds. "Nuts for the nuts," she quipped, dumping them on James's head.

Everyone except James laughed, while James himself brushed the nuts off and whispered to Sirius, "She wants me."

Sirius smiled wryly and said, "'Course, mate. That's why she insults you every chance she gets. To…em, what did you say last year? Oh yes…_cover up her true feeeelings_," Sirius drawled, making eyes at James.

James whacked him across the head. "Oh, shut up. Hm…we better change into our robes."

Lily looked out the window. "We're going to be there soon. Alice, Mary, we should probably change."

"I _just said that!_"

"Oh, who would trust _you_, Potter?" Lily scoffed, reaching up to pull her robes from her trunk. As she stood on tiptoes and blindly rummaged inside her trunk, her tee-shirt slid up, exposing a tiny sliver of skin above the waistband of her jeans. James tried not to stare.

Sirius nudged him. "Seriously, get some class," he whispered.

Lily finally pulled her robes out, adjusted her shirt, and moved to the door. "I'll be right back, _girls_. And Sirius and Remus and Peter."

James raised one eyebrow. Choosing to ignore the blatant lack of his name, he teased, "What, you can change in here…" He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Go to hell, Potter," Lily spat, and walked toward the girls' lavatory. Alice and Mary shrugged and followed.

The second their footsteps disappeared down the corridor, Sirius rounded on James. "What the hell, mate? Were we _not_ just talking about this?!"

James said, "Well...you're stealing my woman." And then he turned around and changed into his robes.

"So what's up with you and _Sirius?_" Alice asked, slipping on her new shoes.

Lily rolled her eyes and put her red and gold tie on. "He's my mate! Is that _sooo_ wrong? For a girl to be mates with a guy?"

Mary narrowed her eyes at Lily. "It is when he looks at you like _that._"

"What are you _talking_ about? He looks at me like a mate who understand how moronic James Potter is," Lily retorted and fixed her pleated skirt.

Alice perched on one of the sinks and ran her fingers through her short curls. "What she's talking about, Queen Oblivious, is how Sirius looks at you when _you're_ not looking."

And this is about the point when Mt. Lily erupted…

"Well, first of all, how am I supposed to know how he looks at me when I'm not looking? The whole point is that _I'm not looking, _oh wise one!" Lily tossed her dark red hair over one shoulder. She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. "And second, what about you and Frank Longbottom, Alice? Despite the fact that you too insist on being "just friends"…hate to be the one to break it to you, but he _likes_ you! He likes you _rather a lot_. And you might want to address that particular issue before asking me about Sirius, all right?"

With that, Lily stormed out of the girls' lavatory and went back into the compartment. She opened the door.

"Ohmigod!"

Sirius had spent a good five minutes yelling at James, so by the time he realized that he wasn't changing…he was the only one still in jeans. "Ah, dammit," Sirius swore, and grabbed his robes. He had just pulled his tee-shit off when the door burst open with a girly "Ohmigod!"

Lily Evans stood paralyzed in the doorway, her huge green eyes wide open.

Remus grinned wryly. "Hello Lily, how is your sister?"

Lily blinked a couple of times. "Pe…tu…nia…yeah, um, sorry. It's good, I man, I mean, she's good. Yeah. Hi."

Peter suddenly came out of his perpetual daze. "Why is Sirius shirtless?"

James narrowed his eyes. "Yes, why _is_ Sirius shirtless?"

"What the _hell_ is going on in here?" Alice and Mary had just come in to the compartment.

Sirius shrugged on his button-down. "Well, you see, I had to change into my school robes, James. And then, Alice, I was standing here…erm…in process…when Lily here came in. And this is about where we left off."

Lily averted her eyes about five hours too late. "Yeah, um…I'll be right back…or something…yep…"

She walked into the corridor and slid down to the floor. Looking up, Lily saw Alice and Mary staring down at her accusingly. "Oh, _come on!_ It was an innocent little accident."

Alice crossed her arms. "He was shirtless."

Lily stared into space for a moment. "Yeah…"

"You, my dear, are impossible."

"Yeah…wait, _what?_" Lily exclaimed.

At this point, James poked his head into the hallway. "'Kay, we're all decent. But that could change, Lily Flower." He grinned.

Lily rolled her eyes and sat down, a bit closer to the boys this time. "So…um…"

Let's just say it was a bit of an awkward train ride.

**It's gonna get really awkward between Lily and Sirius now…let the hilarity ensue!!!**

**Ugh, exams tomorrow…WISH ME LUCK!!!**


	13. Lily Loses It

**What's this? It looks like an update, but that can't be right…IT IS!!! I'm alive, yes. I am SO SORRY for not updating…life got to me, but I'll try to update more, okay? I'm gonna cut the note short and move on to the chapter…not too short, to make up for everything.**

Lily finished up the first breakfast of the school year, got up, and stretched. She looked down at her new schedule and her face quickly brightened. "First period Arithmancy! Oh, thank goodness, I was worried I'd have to go through the whole day worrying!"

Alice looked down at her own schedule and seemed equally excited. "Oh, nice! Me and Mary have got Muggle Studies first period."

"All right, I'll see you girls second for…Transfiguration…then. Oh, by the way, I heard from McGonagall that we're going to be Transfiguring clothing today. It's supposed to be really hard because of the weave."

Apparently, Alice and Mary weren't the only ones who'd heard, because suddenly Sirius was leaning toward them. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be no problem for the best Transfiguration student of our year according to McGonagall, right James?"

James flipped his hair and grinned at Lily, who was looking rather irritated as the best Charms student. "Transfiguration and Charms go hand in hand, don't they Lily Flower?"

Lily smiled at him sweetly. "So they do, Potter. So they do." And with that she flicked her wand twice, muttering two choice spells. Suddenly his bright new Gryffindor tie was Transfigured into something shapeless and furry, and that soon began flicking him in the face as a result of some Charm. Lily slid off the bench and patted James on the head. "Don't worry, Potter. I'm sure it'll wear off soon. At least, I hope it will. Flitwick said mixing that Charm with anything else could make it, well, permanent!"

And with that she walked out of the Great Hall, leaving James behind with a look of utter horror on his face. Naturally, his new non-tie took the opportunity to whack him in the mouth.

Lily leaned against the wall of the fourth floor corridor and rummaged through her bag for the Arithmancy textbook. She pulled it out and weighed it with one hand.

"Heavy little blighter, isn't it?" Severus said, coming up next to her.

"No kidding?" Lily joked, raising one eyebrow. "Rather annoying, really. None of the other books are nearly as thick as…erm…"

"_Algebra in Magic._ Not a very poetic title, but at least it's to the point, right?" Sirius shrugged, coming up the stairs. Suddenly he saw Severus leaning against the wall next to her. "Snape."

Severus nodded curtly. "Black. Anyway, Lily, it shouldn't be too much trouble for you. Weren't you in advanced arithmetic?"

"Hi, Sirius. And yes, I was, but that was only in fifth grade! Sirius, you ever been in Muggle math?" Lily was desperately trying to reconcile her two friendships.

Sirius shrugged again. "Nope. Shouldn't be too bad though, right?"

Lily nodded as the rest of the class stormed up the stairs in a mob.

All of a sudden, the door burst open, not with a slam, but a quick and sudden snap.

"Good morning class. My name is Irina Vladimirovna Petrova. Just take any available seat for now." The woman was petite with short dark hair and sharp features. She walked to the front desk and managed to look down her nose at all of them from her formidable height of 5 feet 1 inch. The students scrambled into desks for three, leaving Lily to sit between Sirius and Severus. "I grew up in the Soviet Union, so this class will be taught the Russian way. So, when the teacher enters, you stand, and wait until I sit to also do so. Now, who has had experience with Muggle Mathematics?"

Lily raised her hand along with a handful of other students. Professor Petrova nodded curtly and said, "We will begin at the beginning. Algebra. Now, who can tell me what a variable is?"

Sirius made his way out the door after an hour of "basic mathematics". There didn't seem to be anything basic about it – variables and equality and solving for _x._ And this was supposed to be the easy part! He sighed and looked at Lily who was walking next to him down to Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws – Severus had made his way to Charms a few moments ago.

Sirius sighed again. "I don't know how I'm to make it till fifth year. That was horrid. D'you have any idea what she was talking about?"

Lily blushed a bit. She had actually been bored all lesson, seeing as she'd attended a Muggle school before Hogwarts. "Pretty much. If you like I'll tutor you a bit. Although, there isn't much to teach yet. Just the idea."

"Just the problem! I don't get why I _care_ what _x_ is!"

Lily shook her head and then brightly changed the topic. "Well, here's Transfiguration. McGonagall doesn't look to pleased, wonder why."

And, at that moment McGonagall turned to James, Remus, and Peter (all of whom had just come from Muggle Studies) and began yelling at them. Lily listened in halfheartedly.

"Charming other students' permission slips! Imagine my shock when I found poor Alice Eberly's permission slip signed by Frank Longbottom's parents! And those Hufflepuffs. Detention!"

Lily pursed her lips. "Ridiculous. Why would they even do something like that?"

Sirius chuckled quietly. "You should have seen what we did to Snape's!" Seeing the disapproving look on Lily's face and quickly backpedaled. "I mean, it wasn't that bad, we just put some grease stains on it 'cause of his hair, I mean…Oh boy."

Lily shook her head and hissed, "I won't turn you in but…" She left the sentence hanging there and flounced into the room.

After collecting their permission slips, McGonagall taught them a spell for Transfiguring clothes and handed out socks. Gingerly picked her dark brown sock up, Alice wrinkled her nose. "I hope these are clean!" Then, she jabbed her wand at it and watched as the sock twitched feebly. Lily and Mary laughed loudly as they attempted to change their own socks into ribbons. Lily's lengthened considerably, but otherwise remained the same.

James smirked and leaned over. He lowered his voice and murmured, "Nice try, Lily Flower. But how about I show you how to Transfigure clothing in a broom closet sometime?"

Lily made a face. "How about I show_ you_ my fist?"

James shrugged. "Eh. I like 'em feisty."

Lily's eyes widened. "_I_ like 'em with _more_ than five brain cells!" And then she jabbed her wand at James, accidentally turning his newly restored tie into a pink ribbon. She giggled, bringing McGonagall running.

"Er…Miss Evans, I have to say, you weren't _supposed_ to be Transfiguring Mr. Potter's clothes, but that is a lovely ribbon. Great dye, and is that silk? Five points to Gryffindor. As for you Mr. Potter, I suggest you concentrate more on your work and less on your classmates," she sniffed, looking down at his raggedy grey ribbon.

And Lily picked up her books and laughed as James's mouth moved wordlessly.

After Charms and lunch, Lily dragged her books up to the Divination Tower, for the first lesson with Professor Dorsten. As the silver ladder slowly descended to the floor and the third years filed up it, Lily bit back a grin. After years of being taught by Muggle fairy tales that magic could show the future, she was finally going to learn how to do so.

"Welcome class. Please, take your seats," Dorsten said, her voice light and musical. She was wearing a light, airy dress that matched the décor – simple armchairs and lots of light in the room. It smelled faintly of incense. "Now, please take out your textbooks and turn to page fifteen – tealeaves."

Just then, Sirius spoke up. "Excuse me, Professor Dorsten? Can't you…tell us what we'll be learning, or give us a demonstration?"

Dorsten pursed her lips slightly. "For those of us whose Inner Eye is not yet fully developed, I will attempt to give a demonstration. The Inner Eye cannot be ordered about, but…" her eyelids fluttered half closed. Then her hand rose and pointed about wildly, finally coming to rest on Alice. "Dear, may I suggest you don't cut your hair? You'll positively hate it. And…you!" The long red fingernail was now directed at Peter. "Your birthday is coming up." Everyone gasped at this…Peter's birthday was the 27th. "Beware your twenty-first birthday. And then…someone else at that table…" she gestured toward the Marauders. "Will be with…her!"

Lily looked at the sharp red nail directed at her, at James shocked yet pleased face, and she realized there was only one way out. With a giggle, she took her professor's hand and said, "That was incredible, Professor Dorsten. But weren't you saying something about tealeaves?"

And Lily ignored all the inquisitive looks directed at her and James as she flipped to the chapter on tealeaves and began to read.

Their last class of the day was Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins. As Lily and her friends made their way down to the small pavilion that had been constructed a few years ago for Professor Merryweather, they caught up to Hagrid, who was walking down with a massive jug of what looked suspiciously like milk.

"Afternoon, Hagrid! Excited for the first crop of third years?" Lily asked brightly. She knew that Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff would not have Magical Creatures until Tuesday.

Hagrid pulled on his beard with the hand not holding the jug. "Kinda worried. I mean, all the other students have known me, and they've known the class. Some of those Slytherins are…well, anyway, Merryweather's got a real treat for you guys today."

Lily smiled at him again and in silence, they walked the rest of the way to the pavilion. The students crowded around Professor Merryweather, a rather old but energetic man. He looked down at them commandingly.

"Welcome to your first Care of Magical Creatures. This class is not for everyone. Not hopefully, all of you will still be here, and will still be _whole_, during you O.W.L. year." He chuckled at their shocked looks and flourished his wand, causing the curtain blocking the inside of the pavilion from their view to rise and reveal today's lesson. "Now. Who can tell me what _these_ are?"

James was the first to speak up. Looking critically into the pavilion, he called out, "They look like cats, Professor." Naturally, everyone laughed at this.

Professor Merryweather smiled and said, "No, he's right. They _do_ look like cats. But are they, indeed, the domesticated little felines of which you speak?" Merryweather flourished his wand again, and a few small bowls, which had apparently been next to him the whole time, filled up with milk from Hagrid's jug. The milk bowls landed in the fenced off portion of the pavilion. Immediately, a few of the creatures flocked to the milk, while the majority stayed a few feet away. "Now, if these are cats…why are only some of them drinking the milk?"

Lily thought for a moment. Then, she let out a gasp and called, "That's because only some of them are cats!"

"Care to explain?"

"Well, those are Kneazles, I think. They resemble cats in appearance, but are suspicious things by nature, so when presented with something, say, a bowl of milk, they won't drink it."

"Excellent. Take five points to Gryffindor, Miss…"

Lily opened her mouth to tell him her name when James butted in.

"Potter. Her last name's Potter," He said calmly, watching as everyone else erupted in fits of giggles.

Merryweather nodded. "Miss Potter. Take five points."

"No! My name's not Potter! _His_ name is Potter!" Lily squealed.

"And in a few years, it'll be your name, too, darling," James said with his customary raised eyebrow.

"Augh! My _name_ is Lily. Evans. Lily Evans! And you!" She said, rounding on James. "Don't you forget that, because that is not going to change anytime soon! And even when it _does_ change, it most certainly will _not_ change to Potter," she scoffed, adding, "Besides, Lily Potter sounds horrid anyway."

Professor Merryweather frowned. "All right, Miss Evans, calm down. I'll take five points from Gryffindor for your temper. As for you, Mr. _Potter_, I'll take another five points for mocking and antagonizing a fellow student, not to mention a housemate. Now, everyone put on your dragon skin gloves and take a bowl of milk…"

Lily stormed back up to the castle after James. Catching him by the shoulder she tossed her hair and started in on him. "I would just like to know…_What the bloody hell was that?_"

"Lily Flower, I was just telling everyone of Dorsten's prophecy."

"Let _me_ make a prophecy, Potter! You're going to stop plaguing me and you're going to let me live my life!" Lily yelled.

"B—"

"And if you don't, I'll show you, every day, just how good I am at Charms!" With that, Lily flicked her wand at him and watched in amusement as his hair began changing colors.

"My hair!" James exclaimed, running off to check the damage. Lily smirked at Sirius.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "And here I thought you were such a sweet, calm girl."

"I am. Now, Sirius, if you'll, uh, excuse me, I've got some homework to start," Lily said, reluctantly tearing her eyes away from the muscles concealed by his shirt and brushing past him.

Sirius watched her go and smirked. She was the only one who badmouthed James Potter and got away with it. And it seemed like over the summer, she had finally lost her patience.

_What with new classes, Hogsmeade, and Lily Evans, this year should be interesting._

**I cannot say how sorry I am. Seriously, feel free to flame, just as long as you review! I wanna make sure **_**someone**_** is still reading this!**


	14. Hogsmeade

**GASP! A CHAPTER! Sorry. Again. I WILL DO BETTER NOW, I SWEAR!!!**

"Alice Marilyn Eberly! _Move!_" Lily yelled, laughing. Alice came out of the bathroom, flicked her wand at her sopping wet curls, and grinned. As her hair dried out, she began poking through her closet for clothes.

Mary and Lily exchanged a look. Both of them were sitting on their beds, dressed, and completely ready for the first Hogsmeade weekend of their _lives_. Alice was still trying to find a school skirt that was clean. Mary pulled her Gryffindor scarf out and began playing with the tassels. Lily, meanwhile, pulled out her wand and started casting charms at her own scarf.

::::::::::::::::

When Alice was finally ready a half hour later, the three girls went down to the entrance hall, Mary's scarf tassels neatly braided and Lily's in varying shades of purple. As the girls made their way along the huge line of students who needed Filch to check their names off the list, they heard the self-dubbed Marauders behind them, making plans for the day.

"—and then we should hit Zonko's. I've heard they've got these new Dungbombs with _timers_," said Sirius, knotting his scarf more tightly around his throat.

James nodded vigorously. "I've heard that there are seven passages out of Hogwarts. We've found four of them so far, and Remus told us about number five, but we still need to hunt down the other two for-" he looked around "-_the map_."

Lily's hair stood on end at the words "the map". She asked Alice to save her place in line, and waltzed over to the Marauders.

Grinning at the fact that they didn't notice her, Lily stood on tip toes next to James and whispered huskily in his ear, "What rules are you breaking now?"

James jumped about a foot in the air and stared at her. "No rules. Nooooo rule breaking. It's all good over here, nothing's going on." Sirius, Remus, and Peter rolled their eyes.

Lily smirked. "You _do_ know that it's against school rules to make a _map_ of the grounds or the castle? Because," she shrugged innocently, "if someone _were_ to make such a map, I would have to report them to McGonagall. And _I've_ heard that the penalty for _that_ is expulsion." She giggled, and walked back to her place in line.

Peter gulped. "A-are we still going to do this? I don't know if we should…I mean, expulsion?"

James rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his already messy black hair. "Of _course_ we're still going to do this – it's the _map_, Peter! Besides, looking for that passageway is like _research_! And research is important, according to our friend with the furry little problem here." When he saw that Peter wasn't convinced, James turned to Sirius for help. "Sirius, tell Peter that we're still looking for the passageway!"

Sirius was silent a moment. He looked at Lily and her friends, giggling as Filch absentmindedly waved them toward Hogsmeade. He didn't care about getting in trouble with his mother, or about lying to teachers. But lying to Lily felt different…she really trusted him, and he knew that she didn't _want_ to report them. But James was the first friend he'd made at Hogwarts.

"Of _course_ we're still going to do this. Now, come on, I do believe we look rather suspicious whispering like this."

:::::::::::::::::::::

Lily and her friends wound their way through the crowd on Hogsmeade's busiest street, each clutching a bottle of butterbeer from The Three Broomsticks and a large bag full of Honeyduke's candy. Lily's hair was up in a loose bun that was held together by a beautiful eagle feather quill with metallic tips. As they walked up the path to the Shrieking Shack, she threw her head back and laughed loudly at the story Alice was telling about Frank Longbottom.

And then, Lily saw the Marauders at the top of the hill, pointing at the Shrieking Shack and laughing about something. She groaned.

"Just once, can't we _escape_ from them? I mean, why are they even up here?" Lily complained, ignoring Alice's warning looks and James, who was coming closer to her.

James slipped an arm around her waist. "Ah, Lily! Just the girl who would love to know the story of the Shrieking Shack."

Lily rolled her eyes and didn't notice Remus shooting James a warning look. She quietly removed James's arm from her waist and exclaimed, "Story? Is there a story _already_? The damn thing has only been the Shrieking Shack for three years! Then again, it _is _Hogwarts. I'm surprised there aren't at least five theories already!"

James smirked. "Well, Lily Flower, there _are_. But you can be sure to only get the truth from yours truly."

Lily crossed her arms and cocked her head. "All right then, let's see your theory so that I can poke some holes in it and point out the glaring errors."

"Well, you see, Lily darling," James began, ignoring the fact that Remus stepped on his foot nervously. "Three years ago, something came to Hogsmeade…something dangerous…"

"Wonderfully frightening, James, but _please_ get to the point."

"It…was…" James widened his eyes and paused. "A ghost."

Remus, Sirius, and James started laughing hysterically. Lily rolled her eyes and laughed despite herself. "All right boys, have fun with your little lies, I've got places to go."

She shook her head and grabbed Mary and Alice by the arm, dragging them back toward Honeyduke's, because apparently, she hadn't gotten _nearly_ enough chocolate.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::

As the Marauders made their way back to the castle after a long day and a lot of butterbeers, Sirius half listened to their trivial conversation concerning secret passages out of the school. When James asked him what Sirius was so busy thinking about, he replied with something about Quidditch.

In reality he was thinking about Lily and their Arithmancy class. She was great at it –she said it was because it was nearly the same as muggle algebra, but he knew she was wrong. So much of Arithmancy was like Theory of Magic that it couldn't have been taught in any muggle school. And she'd always offered to help him…on one condition. He knew she was starting to lighten up a little, but she was still opposed to rule breaking. And Sirius _loved _to break rules.

He wasn't _bad_ really. But his mother wanted him to be good. And he _hated _his mother.

"Oi, James. How many Howlers have you gotten so far?" Sirius asked at random, completely cutting off Peter and not even noticing.

James quickly did a mental count. "Thirty-three to date. That's counting the one in the first week for picking a fight on the train. We _are_ counting first week Howlers, aren't we?"

Sirius nodded. "Naturally. I've got thirty-seven. Looks like I'll be the first one to fifty…ten sickles please! Remember the one my mum sent for getting into Gryffindor? God, that was a wonderful one. My first Howler."

James laughed. "Weren't you too scared to open in the first time? Exploded all over the table, didn't it?"

Sirius nodded. "Oh, yes. Scared the living daylights out of poor Lily, she'd never seen a Howler before!"

The boys all laughed, and then James motioned toward the Fat Lady, which they had come to by this time. Peter muttered the password and climbed through. Sirius was about to follow when Remus laid a hand on his arm and shrugged apologetically at James.

"We'll be just a moment. I want to tell Sirius here something." As James shrugged back and climbed through the portrait hole, Remus pulled Sirius aside and gave him a look. "What's up with you and Lily Evans?"

Sirius swallowed. "Nothing at all. We're friends, she's in some of my classes. She helps me with my Arithmancy homework occasionally. That's about it."

Remus shook his head. "Then, _why,_ pray tell, do your eyes soften every time you say her name? _Why_ do you act different when she's around? And _why_ do you cringe every time James comes on to her?"

Sirius stared straight ahead for a moment and didn't say anything.

"Hey, _I_ don't care if you like her. Doesn't matter either way to me. But James thinks he loves this girl. And he _has_ had a crush on her since first year. And I can't help but think he'd be a bit mad if he found his best friend liked her too."

Again, Sirius had no reply.

And then Remus smiled. "But, I _have_ also noticed that she doesn't treat you as condescendingly as the rest of us. So you might be in luck."

And then the young werewolf turned and walked into the common room, leaving Sirius speechless.

:::::::::::::::::::::::

Lily was halfway through a Chocolate Frog when she walked into Sirius standing in the middle of the hallway, mouth hanging open. She'd left Gryffindor Tower when she found she had nothing to read, and had gone to check if the library was open. It wasn't, but the kitchens _were_, so she'd gone by there and had grabbed a frog or two for the journey back.

"Sirius? What's the matter?" Even though things were sometimes awkward between them because of the shirtless incident on the train and because of _James Potter_, Sirius was still her friend.

Sirius shook his head and stared at her. "Nothing, absolutely nothing. It's just…um, nothing. But if you don't see me around as much anymore, don't worry about it. It's just me and the guys have this thing going on, so I probably won't be able to hang out with you as much for a while."

Lily nodded and passed him, climbing through the portrait hole. And Sirius, who'd lectured James about being decent so many times before, couldn't help but stare at the thin strip of leg exposed when her school skirt rode up.

He felt horrible lying to Lily. But he couldn't fall for her – she was his friend. And James liked her. Not that a girl could be anyone's property, but if one _could_, Lily would definitely be James's. And not even Sirius was willing to face the wrath of James Potter when it came to Lily Evans.

**So, that's it. No Snape in this one, and not that much Sirius-Lily interaction, but it IS a chapter, right? Heh.**


	15. Of Gits, Prats, and Wankers

**APRIL 13!!! You know what that means…my birthday!!! I'll just get on with it…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!**

It was Christmas Eve when Sirius found Lily crying in her bed in the Hospital Wing.

It had started around noon, when he and the rest of the Marauders had discovered that they were the only boys in the third year still at Hogwarts over Christmas vacation. In honor of this, they decided to celebrate. All day.

"First order of business?" James asked, pretending to be serious. It rather failed because he was once again fiddling with a Snitch he'd nicked from Quidditch practice.

Sirius pretended to think. "Snowball fight?" He asked finally, and then flicked his wand at the dressers and watched as scarves and gloves came flying out. The four boys grabbed them and ran for the door. On reaching the common room, they found Lily, Alice, and Mary bored on the couch. Taking pity on the poor girls, they invited them along to fling snowballs at each other.

Lily wasn't sure she wanted to go, but on seeing Alice and Mary's depressed faces, she agreed reluctantly. Sirius was no more eager for her to go with them. Over the past few months, he had successfully managed to avoid Lily, and had almost managed to convince both Remus and himself that he didn't have a crush on her.

::::::::::::::::

Lily loved Christmas vacation. It wasn't really the lack of work – she didn't have a problem with homework, considering she could do most of it in about an hour. But she loved the half empty castle, and the snow on the ground, and the snowball _fights_. So she decided to get over the fact that the Marauders were accompanying them, and be her normal winter-break-self.

She tossed her scarf over one shoulder and jumped up on the banister. Laughing at James's shocked face, she slid down the banister to the first floor and looked up at them, three floors up, and laughed again.

"Hurry up, guys! By the time you get down here, all the snow will melt!" She waited patiently for them, watching the way James's mouth moved wordlessly as he tried to register what prim Lily Evans had just done.

When they finally made it all the way downstairs, she ran outside ahead of them and proceeded to direct a snowball at each and every one of them with her wand.

Remus frowned at her. "Lily Evans, queen of fair, using _magic_ in a _snowball fight_?"

She grinned sheepishly, and with a very obvious gesture, stuffed her wand in her coat pocket.

James smiled brightly. "Jolly good. Now that we've all agreed on no magic…" he pulled out his wand and levitated a huge amount of snow to fall on Sirius's head. Even the wounded party himself had to laugh at this, shaking his the snow from his precious long hair and making a snowball behind his back.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

They'd been outside for hours, and Lily had to rationalize the fact that her legs were still attached, because she plain old couldn't feel them. She whipped out her wand and sent up green sparks, the agreed upon signal for truce. As her friends – _when had she started thinking of the Marauders as her friends? – _came in from behind Hagrid's hut and the nearer reaches of the Forest, she headed in to the school, wondering if the house elves could be prevailed upon for some cocoa.

That's not to say she _got_ to the school. James Potter ran to her, hooked an arm around her waist and dragged her down to the ground. Everything seemed slower, somehow. She was about to start laughing when she heard a sharp crack and realized that that was her head hitting the ground. She put her hand to the back of her head, and screamed when she saw the blood on her fingers. She just remembered seeing the shocked looks on everyone's faces before it all went black.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

_That idiot. That bloody idiot. Best friend or no best friend, if she's not all right, I will strangle James Edward Potter myself, _Sirius thought, as he bent down to Lily. He scooped her up bridal style and started walking to the castle.

Alice and Mary followed him immediately, while the other three Marauders stood wordlessly. When James finally came to, he caught up to Sirius and stopped him.

"Oi! What's the meaning of this? If anyone is to carry Lily Catherine Evans to the Hospital Wing, it'll be me, understood?" James yelled, crossing his arms.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Well excuse me for not trusting you with her, Mr. Let's-play-a-prank-and-knock-a-girl-out! You'll either molest her or drop her again, and I don't know which would be worse! Now grow up, and get over your stupid little insecurities, and let me get this girl to the Hospital Wing!"

James shot Sirius a dirty look. "If you drop her, if she's not okay, I'll…I'll…"

"You'll what? It's _your_ fault this happened! Now, move." Sirius said, his voice cold. James finally realized that he was just postponing his precious Lily Flower's return to health, and moved out of the way. In fact, James nearly ran ahead of them to warn Madam Pomfrey that the most precious girl in the school would soon be there, so she better take care of her. Luckily, the mediwitch had known James long enough to be well aware of his infatuation with Lily Evans.

When Sirius brought Lily in, he looked around frantically before gently placing her on one of the beds. Madam Pomfrey came out of her office, and began bustling around, getting potions and bandages. She watched as the six teenagers crowded around the unconscious Lily Evans, and then attempted to shoo them all out of the room. Peter left immediately, and Remus followed. Alice and Mary looked at each other, and then left, murmuring something about waiting outside.

James and Sirius glared at each other across Lily's sleeping form, and then they both nodded and sat down in chairs on either side of her, refusing to leave. When Madam Pomfrey saw that they wouldn't leave, she sighed resignedly and began diluting something pleasantly yellow with water in a small goblet.

Sirius frowned. "What is that, Madam Pomfrey? I'm just wondering, and thinking about Potions class, so…"

Madam Pomfrey chuckled. "I don't mind telling you. You boys have been in here enough times that you could be my assistants! But I'm not surprised that you don't remember this potion, it's actually a—"

James cut in, determined to impress Sirius with his knowledge and show that he was closer to Lily. "It's obviously a potion to stop the bleeding, Sirius. My mum gave me enough of those that I remember what one looks like!"

Sirius smirked. "Really? Because we've brewed anti-bleeding draughts in Potions, and they always came out pale green. That's obviously yellow, and besides, she's mixing it with water. How many times did Snape tell us that anti-bleeding draughts make blood clot faster, and that if you dilute one with water, it will only make the wound bleed _more_?"

James mumbled something under his breath containing the words "git" and "wanker".

Madam Pomfrey looked shocked for a moment, then remembered whom she was dealing with, and smiled at Sirius. "Good for you, boy. That's right, this isn't an anti-bleeding draught. And James, why do you think all those Russian czars were hemophiliacs? Horrible at Potions they were, and too many diluted anti-bleeding draughts can lead to that."

Sirius smirked at James again, reminding him oddly of his brother, the Slytherin. Sirius peeked into the goblet again. "Looks a bit like Pepper-Up Potion. Maybe something like an Awakening Solution?"

Madam Pomfrey looked at him. "Yes, actually. That's exactly it…" And with that, she poured the contents of the goblet down Lily's throat and watched contentedly as the girl coughed a few times and woke up.

Lily blinked wearily and mumbled, "Where am I and when can I get out and kill James Potter for dropping me?"

Sirius and Madam Pomfrey laughed, while James looked at his shoes pathetically. Madam Pomfrey smiled down at Lily and said soothingly, "You're in the Hospital Wing, Lily. James and Sirius are both right here, but you can't kill anyone just yet. I'll have to clear up that wound on the back of your head first."

Lily's eyes grew wide with panic. "It's still there? Why is it still there?!"

Sirius took her hand in his, forgetting all about his promise to himself and Remus to stay away from her. "Lil, it's gonna be fine."

James scowled at Sirius and grabbed Lily's other hand. "Of course it will, Lily Flower. And I am so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so—" he took a deep breath "—so, so, so, so sorry for dropping you on your head."

Lily rolled her eyes and pulled her hand away from James, not even noticing that she let Sirius hold onto to her other hand.

Madam Pomfrey smiled again and pulled out a pale green potion, and began mixing it with something thick and dark purple. "Now, Lily, Horace Slughorn has told me so much about your skill at Potions that you should know I can't do much if you're unconscious. Now, I'm just going to give you an Anti-Bleeding Draught – this is what one looks like, James Potter – and a potion to help your cut heal faster. Two minutes into the healing process, I'll give you something to prevent scarring."

Lily nodded, satisfied now that she had some facts to hold onto. She tried to put a hand to her head and see if she was still bleeding, but Madam Pomfrey gave her such a look that she meekly put her hand back by her side. Sirius grinned on seeing fiery Lily Evans subdued, and she shot him a dirty look. James, meanwhile, was mouthing something at Sirius that looked suspiciously like "my woman".

Madam Pomfrey handed Lily her goblet and said, "Thought you might want to do it yourself. Now, drink up, Lily. Can't offer you any pumpkin juice, I'm afraid, can't risk making the bleeding worse. So just bear with the taste."

Lily grimaced and drank the thick liquid. Sirius watched as Madam Pomfrey set a timer for two minutes, and then walked off to fetch an Anti-Scarring Tonic.

"Absolutely disgusting," Lily informed Sirius. He laughed and then jerked his head at James, who looked dejected.

Lily pursed her lips at him. "If you think it isn't fair that I'm talking to Sirius and not you, need I remind you whose fault it is that I am even here?"

James nodded, acknowledging his stupid mistake, and reached for Lily's hand. She shot him a condescending glare and pulled her hand away. At this point, Madam Pomfrey came in with a peach colored Anti-Scarring Tonic, which she told Lily to drink immediately, unless she wanted a seven centimeter scar on the back of her head.

Lily smirked at Madam Pomfrey's retreating back and turned to Sirius, pretending to contemplate. "Well, scars _can_ be very useful…I mean, if they ever had to cut me open, they'd already have a dotted line to go by!"

Sirius laughed, and then forced her to drink her tonic. Lily emptied the tiny bottle and then placed it on her bedside table. "Madam Pomfrey?" She called.

"Yes, Lily, dear?" The mediwitch asked, coming back in.

"I'd just like to sleep, if you don't mind. I'm rather tired from all this near-concussion business."

Madam Pomfrey laughed. "Of course, Lily. You'll have to stay here for the night, I'm afraid. Head wound, you know the drill."

Lily giggled. "Actually, I don't know the drill."

Sirius squeezed her hand. "Good. I've been in the Hospital Wing enough times for the both of us."

Lily giggled again and then squeezed his hand back and told him and James to get out. She watched them leave, and then pulled her blankets up to her chin and buried her face in her pillow.

:::::::::::::::::

Sirius and James left the Hospital Wing and stood just outside the door, glaring at each other. Finally, James spoke.

"Do I need to ask you what the _bloody hell_ that was?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Well, James, you see…you are an idiot, and dropped Lily Evans, whom you supposedly love. So then, because you were acting like such a prat, I had to carry her up to the Hospital Wing, and stay with her because I wanted to protect her from your acting like a wanker."

James scowled. "No, I mean, you were squeezing her hand, and being all comforting, and…" he trailed off.

"And?"

"And _flirting_, all right?"

Sirius let out a sharp barking laugh and began walking down the corridor.

"Hey! I'm not done with you! Get back here, Black!" James called, running down the corridor after Sirius.

Sirius stopped suddenly and looked at James. "Since when do you call me 'Black'?"

"Since when do you flirt with the girl I've loved for two and a half years?"

Sirius laughed, a real laugh this time, and James had no choice but to join him. "Touché. But James, this is stupid. Just because you're in love with Lily Evans, doesn't mean we all are! I mean, she's a great girl. She's smart and funny and witty and—"

"Incredibly, drop-dead, gorgeous," James added.

"All right, that too. But you've loved her for so long, I would never take that from you."

James nodded. "All right. I was a git for thinking you would. And I'm sorry."

Sirius shrugged. "No harm; no foul, right?"

"Yeah. Although by that reasoning, I've fouled Snivellus and Lily Evans rather a lot, don't you think?"

The two friends laughed again. "Most definitely. And while I don't recommend continuing to harm Lily, I can't say as much for Snivellus!"

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

The two of them walked down the corridor, trading ideas for pranks and laughing. But Sirius wasn't all there. He was trying to convince himself that what he told James was true. Lily _was_ a great girl…but he didn't love her. _Or_ like her! Not at all!

Sirius sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

James, who was just interrupted mid-comment, stopped and asked, "What's up?"

Sirius shook his head. "Nothing. Just…just…just forgot my gloves in the Hospital Wing. I'll go get them."

"Want me to go with you?"

"Nah. I'll get 'em myself. See you up in the common room."

"Yeah! Tell Lily I'm sorry."

Sirius rolled his eyes and muttered, "If I tell her again, I think she'll gag."

::::::::::::::::::

Sirius cracked open the door to the Hospital Wing and spotted his gloves lying on the floor. He opened the door gingerly and tiptoed to his gloves, picking them up quietly. He was about to leave without saying anything to Lily, who was apparently asleep, when he heard a sniffle.

He didn't even think about doing it, but the next thing he knew, he was sitting next to Lily and holding one of her hands. "And why are _you_ crying?"

She looked up at him, green eyes sparkling with tears. "I'm—" sniffle "—not crying."

He gave her a look. "Lily."

She ripped her hand out of his grasp and buried her face in her pillow again, breaking out into loud sobs. "This is the worst Christmas ever!"

Sirius smoothed some of her hair back. "I know you're in the Hospital Wing, but seriously…they'll deliver your presents here just as well!"

Lily smiled weakly. "It's not that…"

"Then…?"

"It's my parents!" She sobbed again. "They didn't even write me a letter, and they always write to me over the holidays! They just sent me a sorry little note, saying that they were taking Petunia to Majorca for the holidays, and wouldn't have time to write or get me anything!"

"I'm sorry, Lily."

"So now, it's Christmas, and I'm stuck in the Hospital Wing with nothing from my parents, and none of my friends, and no one to wait up with me for Christmas Day. I always stay up to midnight and wait for it, and I never do it alone! At least not until now…but why am I telling _you_ all this? You've been _ignoring_ me for the past few months. _You _most likely hate me!"

He looked at her. "I could never hate you Lily Evans." And then, he realized that he was sounding just a _bit_ too serious, so he followed up with, "I'll just dislike you immensely! But not yet. Not now."

She grinned.

"And, I would consider it an _honor_ to stay up and wait for Christmas with you."

She laughed and patted the chair next to the bed. He sat down with a flourish and looked at the clock on the wall.

"Well, milady, we've still a few hours to wait. If thou permitteth me, I shalt run down to the kitchens, and fetch thy fair self some nourishment." Laughing at Sirius's attempt at old English, Lily motioned him to the door.

:::::::::::::::::

James wasn't _really_ suspicious when Sirius came back to the common room, bearing sweets from the kitchen. He'd done that before, although never over Christmas. And he wasn't _too_ upset when Sirius explained the half eaten chocolates in one of the boxes with the simple word "Lily".

Because Sirius was James's best friend. And he would never, _ever_ steal her from him.

In fact, he would never even begin to _think_ about liking her!

Right?

**Leave me a birthday present in the form of a review!!!**


	16. Exams

Lily put her head down on her arms and tried to hold back the tears. Their Arithmancy exam was in only a week, and she couldn't for the life of her remember what completing the square was and why the _bloody hell_ you need it in Potions. She looked up, heaved her textbook out of her bag, and glanced around the library.

Sirius and Remus were sitting in another corner of the library, surrounded by textbooks. Sirius looked up at Lily and Remus, and then scowled. Neither of them felt the need to study for anything besides Potions, History of Magic, and, in Lily's case, Arithmancy. Sirius had all his books except for Transfiguration on the table, and was currently plowing through his Divination book. Lily had dropped the joke of a class back in January, and Remus just faked his way through the myriad of crystal balls. Sirius sighed. No help from either of them.

Lily, meanwhile, suddenly looked up, grabbed a quill and began writing notes in the margins of her book, muttering about Potions ingredients and balance and weights. She wrote out the last word, "equilibrium", and then leaned back in her chair. Deciding that she'd had enough of her Arithmancy notes for the time being, Lily leaned back and started practicing for her Charms practical. She flicked her wand at a scrap of parchment, and watched as it folded itself into a perfect airplane. She smiled at her handiwork, and directed the little plane to fly towards the door.

James had been on the Quidditch Field. He found it helped him focus if he flew a bit before studying. But after spending nearly an hour on his broom, he found that he could no longer put off studying, so he stashed his dear Nimbus 500 in the dormitory, and dragged his school bag to the library. He opened the door and walked in, scanning the room for Sirius, Remus, and – he hoped – Lily.

It was probably because he was so involved in this that he didn't notice the paper airplane heading for his head.

:::::::

Lily didn't _mean_ to hit James Potter in the forehead with her paper airplane. But when she saw that it was inevitable, she decided to enjoy the moment, so he heard her quiet giggle as the plane hit him and then fell to the ground. James smirked. He pulled his wand out of his pocket, muttered a spell, and transfigured the crumpled paper airplane into a thick wad of paper. He sent it rolling along the floor to bump her foot, and then dropped into a seat next to Sirius. He pulled his Muggle Studies text out of his bag and opened it to a chapter on Christopher Columbus.

James sighed loudly and turned to Sirius. "Who knew the blasted Muggles had so much history?"

Sirius laughed. "Just be happy you didn't decide to take Arithmancy. I just want to shake Irina Vladimirovna and tell her that I don't give a bloody damn about parabolas!"

They heard Lily's light laugh behind them and spun in their chairs. She sat down next to Sirius and jabbed her finger at the page he'd opened his book to.

"Well, obviously you're having trouble. Absolute value equations don't make parabolas! Oh, you twit," Lily sighed and Summoned a piece of graph paper from her bag.

Sirius looked at the page and noticed, right at the top, in bold lettering, "**Only graphs with the variable to the second power will make parabolas.**" He grinned sheepishly and watched as she began to sketch a graph of something.

She looked up at him. "Well, don't just _sit_ there. I _am_ helping you, after all. Grab a sheet of graph paper and your quill. Oh, and cast an Accuracy Charm for me while you're at it? My wand's in the inside pocket of my robes and, frankly, I just don't want to get it out."

James smirked. "I can get it for you, Lily Flower, dear."

She gave him a look. "Potter, don't you have a Charms practical to be studying for? And I _know_, for a _fact_, that your Cheering Charms aren't up to scratch."

James rolled his eyes and grumbled, "_Some_one needs a Cheering Charm."

Sirius laughed at James's muttered comment and cast an Accuracy Charm for the both of them. He looked at Lily and they both sighed, and then turned to their Arithmancy books.

::::::::::::::::::::::

Sirius rolled over in bed and looked at his clock. 1:28 am. He had his Arithmancy exam in…seven hours and thirty-two minutes. He watched the numbers shift. Thirty-one minutes. There was no way he was getting back to sleep, now. He got up, put on a sweater, and walked down to the common room, fully expecting to be the only one down there.

He walked to the couch and was about to sit down when he noticed Lily, lying on it, hands over her eyes, quietly reciting formulas.

He looked at her and tugged on her hand. "Yes, yes, Lily, y equals mx plus b. We know that."

She laughed nervously. "Yes, well, I need a good grade on this!"

He rolled his eyes. "No, what we _both_ need is a walk."

She shrugged and followed him to the portrait hole.

This wasn't the first time he was going on a late night walk with a girl. It's just that this walk wouldn't conclude in hurried snogging in an alcove or behind a statue. They both knew that, but neither of them mentioned it.

Sirius was leading her to the kitchens and trying to make stupid small talk. He was about to mention the weather – _the bloody weather –_ when they ran into Snivellus roaming the halls and also muttering formulas.

"Snivell—ahem, Snape."

"Blood trai—ahem, Black."

Lily gave them both looks. "Sev, Sirius, play nice."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yes, ma'am. Now, don't we have an Arithmancy exam to study for?"

Lily nodded. "But Sev's in our _class_…he can join us!"

Sirius and Severus looked at each other. Well, not looked, more like glared. Eventually, Sirius turned to Lily and said, "You know, Lil. I'm tired suddenly. I think I'm gonna go back and try to get some more sleep."

She nodded and waved goodbye to him. Then, turning to Severus, she asked, "Sev, come down to the kitchens with me, will you? I'm absolutely starved, I just realized."

"Of course, Lily. Now, did she say if there was going to be factoring on the exam tomorrow?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Let's not talk about all that, Sev. The exam sounds absolutely _horrid_."

And she grabbed his hand and dragged him down to the kitchens.

::::::::::::::::::

Lily woke up early the next morning, put her hair up in a perfect high ponytail, made sure her quill wasn't about to break, and walked down to the Great Hall. She saw Severus sitting in the middle of the hall, so she walked over to him and sat down.

Looking straight ahead at the podium where Irina Vladimirovna was preparing the exam, Lily said, "Morning."

"Morning, Lily."

"Beautiful day out."

"Damn shame we're stuck inside."

Lily stared ahead for another moment, before whipping her head around. "Oh, good Lord, I'm so _scared_!"

"Me too."

Lily felt a hand brush her shoulder, and then saw Sirius sit down next to her. "Morning, Lily, Sniv—Snape. Lovely day for an exam, isn't it?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Absolutely _horrid_."

"Yes, well…"

But none of them got any farther, because Irina Vladimirovna waved her wand to distribute the exams, and then it began.

:::::::::::::::::::::::

Lily and Severus slumped against the wall outside and stared blankly into the distance. Sirius walked up to them, sat on Lily's other side, and followed suit.

"That…was…_awful_," Lily breathed, looking up at the sky.

"I got a T, for _certain_," nodded Sirius.

Severus shrugged. "I don't know, it wasn't that bad. Maybe A, perhaps E if I'm lucky."

Lily squinted at him and whacked him with her bag. "Well, Sev, we'll see if you're singing a different tune this summer!"

Sirius looked at her, puzzled. "Aren't you spending the summer with Alice and Mary?"

She sighed. "No, they're both going to France with their families. I guess I'm staying home, so I'll be seeing a lot of Sev. Just like old times, hm?"

Severus nodded smugly in Sirius's general direction. "Exactly. Lily and I grew up together, we've been friends a long time."

Lily smiled again. "So we'll see if you change your mind about that exam when you get your _P_ on it!"

And, so saying, she got up and ran off around the Lake, knowing that Severus would walk calmly after her.

Sirius stayed sitting. He'd thought that maybe, if Lily was spending the summer alone or with Alice and Mary, she would send him owls again. But if Snivellus was going to be there…

He shook himself. He wasn't supposed to be friends with her anyway.

He was supposed to be ignoring her!

Bloody hell!

He got up, threw a rock at the wall, and then stomped inside to find James and begin their plans for the summer – goof off and plan ways to annoy _Snivellus._


	17. Sirius and James Form a Plan

**I'm horrible. Yes. Just shoot me now, please.**

Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, watched as the last term report filled itself out by magic, and then waved her wand to enclose them all in envelopes. Another wave of her wand and several hundred owls lined up on their perches in this mailing room that no student had ever seen. A final charm and all the envelopes attached themselves to the leg of an owl, and all the birds took off. She despised report day, but there was nothing she could do. Part of the job of Deputy Headmistress was mailing home report cards, and it wasn't _that_ bad…most of the job was done by magic. She sighed and went back to her office for a large mug of tea.

:::::::::::::::::

Term reports always came on the last day of June, but you could never really know at what time, so when Lily met Severus after breakfast, she invited him back to her house to wait.

It was an unspoken agreement between Lily and Severus that they would only ever meet at her house. They had reached this mutual conclusion after one time when they were eleven and his father, Tobias Snape, had his Severus's mother, Eileen, in Lily's presence. Lily had cried out in the other woman's defense, and it was only Severus's pushing her aside that saved her from being hit herself.

That was the first and only time that the two ever met at Severus's house.

But no one was thinking about that know. The weather was warm, the exams long gone, and best of all, Petunia wasn't home. Lily and Severus stayed up in her room, perusing advanced Potions books from Diagon Alley and drawing doodles with sugar quills. The idea was to distract themselves from worrying about exam results, but they both knew that would never happen. In fact, Lily was just mentioning this to Severus when the owl tapped on her window.

:::::::::::::::::

"An A in Divination, E's in History of Magic and Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures, and O's in everything else. Not bad, all things considered," James reported to his mum as she served him and Sirius dinner.

Elizabeth Potter shrugged. "Really, James, I'm proud, but…why did you even take Divination if you're not going to bother to try?"

James rolled his eyes.

"Come, Jamesie, I'm serious!"

At hearing's James's childhood nickname, Sirius's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Well, as I'm sure _Jamesie_ would tell you if he wasn't dying of mortification, not many people did better in Divination. I got an E, but that's only because I was tested on dreams, whereas Jamesie was tested on the crystal ball."

James slowly brought his face back to a normal color and sputtered out, "Uh, yeah, crystal ball, yeah."

Sirius rolled his eyes and brought his eyes back to the piece of parchment next to his bowl of soup. All in all, he was content. He'd gotten E's in Divination and Care of Magical Creatures, and even scraped one in Arithmancy. O's in all of the basic subjects, but he wasn't that surprised. He wasn't _stupid. _Just lazy. Sirius pushed back his nearly finished soup and turned to James.

"Listen, James, I've got an idea to help Remus with his…_furry little problem_…"

James nodded knowingly and quickly made his excuses to his mother. The two boys ran upstairs where Sirius pulled an old and tattered book out of his trunk.

"_Moste Perilous Beastes_? Where did you get that, Sirius?!" James exclaimed, reading the title of the tome Sirius was clutching. Every pureblood child had heard of the book, which was a much more dangerous version of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_. There were very few copies in existence, and almost all of them belonged to old, pureblooded, Dark families.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'm a Black, remember? I filched this from my family's library in the one week I was home. There's a whole _chapter_ on werewolves."

James carefully creaked open the ancient volume and found the section on werewolves. "Dangerous, blah blah, once a month, et cetera…Sirius, I know pretty much all this!"

And this is where Sirius crossed his arms and smirked smugly. "Did you know that werewolves are only dangerous to humans?" When he saw James's puzzled gaze, he went on. "I know we were talking about Animagi last summer, but now I think…what if that's the answer? Look, if we turn into animals, Remus can't hurt us. And if he can't hurt us, then we can keep him company at night while he transforms!"

James shook his head. "Yeah, but I've heard about Animagi, and they have to go through all these tests to make sure they can transform properly, and they have to register with the Ministry so that the government can keep track of them. And you have to be of age to even _start_ studying how to become an Animagus!"

Sirius looked at James solemnly. "This is one of our best friends that we're talking about. And then…when have we ever cared about rules, James?"

::::::::::::::::

Lily basked in the glow from her ten "Outstanding's" and turned to Severus, who was scowling at the "Exceeds Expectations" he'd gotten in Ancient Runes. She giggled.

"Oh, cheer up, Sev! An E's a great grade! An I've an idea…my father's got to go to court in London tomorrow, he's a lawyer, didn't I say? Anyway, my parents are going to London tomorrow and Mum's going to take me to Diagon Alley while Dad's working. If you like you can come! I know we haven't got our book-lists yet, but we can go to Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, and I need to pick up some owl treats for Canis, and things…"

Severus nodded and the two agreed to meet the next morning for the trip into London.

Meanwhile, James and Sirius were also making plans to go into Diagon Alley the next day. They were planning to buy several books on Animagi with James's birthday money.

The two excursions into Diagon Alley could not possibly end well.

**Really short, I know, but I will have another one up soon! I **_**swear!!**_** Like…next week soon!**

**And I will actually keep my promise this time, just please please please review!!**


	18. Adventures in Flourish and Blotts

**Okay, I just want to make a few things clear. No matter how long I do not update, I promise promise promise that I will never abandon this story. I love it (and also certain people at my school who read would bite my head off.)**

**Also, you might notice that sometimes I call Snape "Severus" and sometimes I call him "Snape." Well, it depends on who's eyes I'm looking through at that moment – Lily's or Sirius's.**

**Also, it says in canon that the Marauder's don't actually manage to become Animagi until fifth year, so I will be sticking to canon whenever possible. Still not saying whether or not the ending will be canon!**

**Disclaimer: Own nothing ******

Whenever Lily was in Diagon Alley, she, being the bookworm that she was, always made her first and longest stop Flourish and Blotts. And since Severus was almost as much of a bookworm as she was (not to mention his crush), he was only too happy to comply. The two were browsing through the Potions books when Severus heard his least favorite sound in the world: James Potter's voice.

"…I suppose, but it must be really advanced Transfiguration!" Potter said, his voice too loud, as always.

He heard Black's voice answer, "I'm sure it is, but they have to have books on it… There, next to the Potions section!"

Severus looked at Lily in a panic – he didn't want to have to put up with James during summer vacation, as well! But, to his horror, she was still looking through some book, eagerly reading about the uses of billywig stings. Severus contemplated just grabbing the sleeve of her Muggle tee-shirt, but before he had reached any sort of conclusion, Potter and Black walked past the aisle they were in.

_Please let them not notice us. Please let them not notice us. Please let the—_

"Sev, look! Did you know that billywigs are native to Australia?"

Severus closed his eyes so that he didn't have to see Potter and Black round on him. He knew that the presence of James's "precious Lily Flower" did little to stop him from annoying his worst enemy.

But shockingly enough neither Potter nor Black so much as glanced in their direction. _Whatever they were talking about, they must be really engrossed_, Severus thought, and tugged on Lily's arm.

"What?" She snapped, not pleased to be torn out of her book-reverie.

"Potter and Black are here," Severus said, and jerked his head in their direction.

Lily promptly put the book back on the shelf and snuck closer to the aisle that Potter and Black were in. She motioned Severus closer, and the two pressed their ears to the bookshelves, hoping to hear what was going on only a meter away.

::::::::::::::::

Sirius was half looking at book titles and half listening to James's musings.

"I wonder if Peter would do it as well? I mean, I know it's really complicated magic, but I'm sure we could figure it out, Sirius! I'm the best Transfiguration student in our year!" When James noticed the look on Sirius's face, he quickly added, "And you're not bad, either."

Sirius rolled his eyes and then plucked a thick book from the shelf. "_Human Transmutations and Transformations_. I've not heard of it, but it sounds promising."

James looked at the book more closely and then looked at Sirius excitedly. "Not _heard_ of it? Of _course_ you've heard of it! Or, rather, seen it. McGonagall's got a copy of this book on her desk, and we must have been in that office at least 30 times. My mum's got a subscription to _Transfiguration Today_, and this is the premier guide for any and all Transfiguration relating to the human shape. Including, if I'm right, Animagi!"

"I'm sure there's a huge section on Animagi in here, but how are we to find it? This book's massive!"

"Well, I'd suggest checking the Table of Contents. But even though this book's only a year old…I know it _hasn't_ a Table of Contents. I'm not sure why. And we can't use a finding charm, partly because it's summer, and partly because you can't use magic in Flourish and Blotts. They're scared it'll damage the books, either physically, or with a magical imprint."

And then Sirius thought back to his last time in the Gryffindor Head of House's office. "Wait…remember last May when we got in trouble for setting off firecrackers in the fourth floor girls' lavatory?"

::::::::::::::::::

Lily turned to Severus and whispered excitedly, "I knew they were behind that! I wonder why McGonagall didn't tell us…"

"Shh!" Severus warned, and pressed his ear back against the bookshelf.

:::::::::::::::::::

Sirius went on. "Well, remember how McGonagall called the four of us into her office separately? And I went first? Well, when I went in, she had _this book_ open on her desk. To somewhere in the middle. And there was a scrap of parchment sticking out labeled 'Animagi'!"

The two boys opened the book, and fortuitously opened it right to a page that had the word "Animagi" written in fancy script. James and Sirius looked at each other.

"Wicked!" They both exclaimed, and then looked at the price tag.

Both of them were from wealthy pureblood families, so neither would flinch at an expensive item, especially not a book. However—

"_Two hundred Galleons?_ For a _book_?!" Sirius exclaimed.

:::::::::::::::::

Both Severus and Lily sucked in their breath sharply. Severus's family was poor, and two hundred galleons was an insane amount of money. There was no way that Potter would pay it.

Lily's father was a lawyer, so she was pretty well off financially…well-off enough that her mother didn't even have to work. But still. She'd seen the Gringotts exchange rates! All of her school books and robes and wand and owl and _everything_ probably didn't add up to _one_ hundred galleons.

:::::::::::::::::

Sirius looked at James and placed the book back on the shelf. "Bloody hell."

"What? What are you doing?!"

"James! You saw that, the book costs a ridiculous amount. I guess we'll just have to see whether either of our families has a copy…"

James rolled his eyes. "Look. First of all, I've got a hundred galleons right here from my birthday money. And second…my mum's wanted a copy of this for _ages_. And she's also wanted me to take more interest in my classes, Transfiguration especially. The problem is…dad would never let her pay more than a hundred for it – he always _had_ liked Potions more. But if I say that I'll go halfsies with her…and say it'll make me more interested in her favorite field…"

Sirius felt a wide smile spread across his face. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on the book. You go get your mum – she said she was going to Madam Malkin's."

::::::::::::::::::

Lily saw James leave the bookshop, presumably to find his mother and convince her to help him purchase this book. But what _was_ it about the book that made James and Sirius so desperate to have it? Namely, why were they so interested in _Animagi_?

Flipping her hair, Lily walked into the next aisle over and casually leaned against the shelf, looking at Sirius through her hair. Sirius himself was still engrossed with the book, and didn't notice her. In fact, he didn't notice her until she walked up behind him and breathed in his ear.

"Fancy meeting you here."

Sirius jumped about a meter in the air and whirled around to face her, slamming the book shut and hiding it behind his back. "Lily! Lily Evans. Yes, _fancy_ meeting you here. I'm here with James; we just wanted to pick something up for his mum's birthday next week. She's always wanted a copy of some silly glamour Transfiguration book, so…"

Lily smirked and put her hands on her hips, ignoring Severus, who was just slinking into their aisle. "Does that 'silly glamour book' happen to be called _Human Transmutations and Transformations?_"

Sirius swallowed hard. "N-no. I've never even heard of that book."

"Come now, Sirius. You're a horrid liar, and I know that you recall that book from McGonagall's office," Lily stated calmly, afterwards muttering, "You've certainly been in there enough times."

Sirius sighed. "All right, so it _is_ that book. But it _is_ for James's mum."

Lily arched one eyebrow. "If it's for his mum's birthday, why is she paying half the _ridiculously high_ price? No, don't interrupt. Sirius, why are you so interested in Animagi all of a sudden? I know you were talking about them a bit last year but…not 200 galleons interested!"

"Why do you care, Lily? Why do you care what I'm interested in? You're always hanging around with _him!_" Sirius near-yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Severus. "You haven't written me a single letter all June, not even to ask how I was! So why do you care, Evans? Go hang around Snape, go talk about _his_ interests. I can see you've no use for mine!"

Lily actually took a step back from the volume of Sirius's last statement. "Sirius, calm down. Please. I'm sorry for that but…just lower your voice. You're going to get us all thrown out of Flourish and Blotts!"

And then the three heard another voice. It was male, strong, deep. And it carried that unmistakable tone of authority.

"Not 'about to,' miss. This young man _has_ gotten you all thrown out. Yes, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you all to leave. And…what is that book that you're holding? _Human Transmutations and Transformations_?! First of all, there's no way you can afford that! And second, put it _down_ this _instant_, it's one of our most precious items! Now out! All of you out!"

As the three teens headed for the door, Lily shot Sirius a dark look. "I can understand you're angry. But that's no reason to behave like a child and get all of us thrown out of my favorite shop!"

Sirius was about to snap at her again when Severus pulled her away, muttering about Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. The two walked away just as James walked up with his mum.

"Sirius! Why the bloody hell—sorry, mum—aren't you in there watching the book?"

Sirius sighed. "Well, Evans and Snape came up, and she wanted to know why we were interested in Animagi, and I started yelling at her, and we got…erm…thrown out."

James rolled his eyes. "All right, then. Mum and I will buy the book. You wait here."

Sirius saluted and then went to sit on a bench, wondering what Lily was up to.

:::::::::::::::::

As a matter of fact, Lily Catherine Evans was _also_ sitting on a bench, wondering what someone was up to. Just…not quite in the same way. Sitting outside Fortescue's with Severus and munching on a banana split sundae, she steered the conversation to the thing on both their minds.

"What do Potter and Black want with an expensive book on Animagi?" Lily asked, using Sirius's last name now that they were apparently no longer friends. She expected Severus to begin a long tirade about how they were up to no good as usual, leaving her free to think in peace. However, Severus did not deliver.

"Haven't a clue, Lil. I'm sure we'll find out at school through some vulgar prank. Now, I don't know if you know this, but there's another, smaller bookshop just a few blocks away. They also sell used books, which you can get really cheap."

Lily shrugged and stood up, wordlessly asking him to lead the way. And even though she seemed to be completely absorbed in the little bookshop that Severus showed her, at the back of her mind she was always thinking about the Marauders and Animagi.

::::::::::::::::

When Sirius and James got home, they owled Peter and Remus, asking them to Floo over right away – they had some very exciting news.

**As you may have noticed, I am posting chapters much more frequently now, and I will be sending an email or PM to everyone who reviewed before chapter 17 was published and hasn't reviewed since. I know that I've made this promise before, but now that I'm on summer vacation and finally back from a few trips I was on, I **_**will**_** be updating at least once every two weeks, most likely weekly.**


	19. Everybody Loves Lily

**I got a request for more Remus, so I tried to write that in…**

The summer had flown by for the Marauders. They'd spent it at the Potter house (more of a manor) and had converted the attic into their domain. At the beginning of the summer it had been dusty and filled with boxes, but they'd uncovered the windows, cleaned up a bit, and filled it instead with armchairs and empty bottles of butterbeer. And books. Loads and loads of books. Because as helpful as _Human Transmutations and Transformations_ was, it didn't actually give the incantation one needed to turn into an animal. Or, more precisely, to turn into an Animagus. There was another chapter devoted on turning into animals, but only by turning into an Animagus could you keep your human mind.

The Animagi Bible, as they'd come to call the book, discussed at great lengths the dangers and tiny details of becoming an Animagus, even going so far as to say:

"_When pronouncing the incantation necessary to turn into an Animagus, one must be sure that one is pronouncing it correctly. Mispronunciations may result in dangerous side effects including, but not limited to, partial transformation (internal or external), a transmutation of the mind, or in some very rare cases, death._

_This book shall not include the incantation for the above reason. More than one amateur has attempted this transformation and suffered dire consequences. The incantation can be obtained at the Ministry of Magic, after graduation from a magical institution such as Hogwarts and completion of the necessary mental and magical course of training."_

After they read that, there was a lot of swearing. Needless to say, James was none to happy to find that he'd spent a hundred galleons on a book that failed to supply the most crucial information. However, the book did talk a lot about the theory and even how to actually turn into an animal. It even went into great detail about the "preparatory course." In fact, the book talked about everything except the incantation, so the Marauders spent a lot of time filching books from the Potters' personal library and reading about Animagi.

Remus helped them reluctantly – he was still scared of putting his friends in danger. But the longer their (apparently) fruitless search went on, the more at ease he became. But it was finally September first and after cramming in a ridiculous amount of Transfiguration books into their trunks along with all their regular things, they were finally on their way to school.

:::::::::::::::::::::::

Lily and Severus went onto the platform together, because they came to the station together. Severus's parents were too busy fighting to remember to drive their only child to King's Cross, so Lily's parents gave him a lift. They didn't allude to his parents' absence – this wasn't the first time.

But when they finally got to Platform 9 ¾, Lily told her parents that she could get no the train by herself, and she and Severus left them at the car. As the two of them went on to the platform, Lily automatically scanned the room for the Marauders. Three years of being James Potter's crush had conditioned her to look for him. Usually she would walk over and say hello to Sirius, but he hadn't responded to her six letters of apology, so she assumed he was still angry. Telling Severus goodbye and that she'd see him later, Lily walked over to join Mary and Alice in their search for a compartment.

Lily automatically took the shortest path to her friends, forgetting that it would take her right past the Marauders. As she passed within half a meter of them, she stiffened in anticipation of James's come-ons.

Come-ons that never came.

Lily stopped in the middle of the platform and whirled around to face the tight huddle of Marauders. They were talking quietly, barely paying attention to their surroundings. In fact, they were so absorbed in their conversation that no one so much as looked up when Thomas Mulciber purposely walked into Remus.

Except James. James looked around, shot Mulciber a dirty look, and then glanced at Lily, who steeled herself. However, James grinned and waved at her, mouthing "hi," and then went back to his conversation.

Lily stood in the middle of the platform, staring blankly, and trying to comprehend what had just happened. After several minutes, she walked away dazedly, and was only stopped from walking onto the train tracks by Alice's hand on her shoulder.

"Lil, what's the matter? You like you've seen a ghost!"

"James Potter is a human being. I…It's very strange to have your whole view on reality suddenly disrupted," Lily said frankly. Alice and Mary each put an arm around her shoulders and led her inside the train, cooing softly to Lily while smiling at each other behind her back.

::::::::::::::::

Lily was on her way back from changing in the lavatory when she ran into Remus in the hallway.

"All right, Lily?" Remus asked, smiling at her as he always did.

"Yes Remus, thanks. Just a bit anxious," Lily admitted. She never felt nervous around Remus; they were a lot alike.

"What about? Can't be James, I don't think you two have seen each other all day!" Remus commented, leaning against the wall next to her.

"No, we haven't…" Lily said, choosing not to mention the wave James had given her. "It's just…fourth year, you know. I mean, they're picking prefects next year, this is our last chance to make a good impression!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Lily, you're the _only one _who still thinks that you might _not_ be the Gryffindor girl prefect."

Lily blushed almost as dark as her hair, and muttered, "Thanks, Remus. Oh, did you know that Professor Slughorn is having a little party the very first day of classes?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. Slughorn never invited him to meetings of the Slug Club – Remus was, although pureblood enough, poor. And though he was clever, he wasn't fond of showing off. "Really?" Remus asked flatly.

"Yes. I really don't know whether I'll go or not…it's the _first day of class_. And you know that McGonagall and the rest will assign homework no matter what."

Remus nodded. "Look, I've got to go, James and Sirius and Peter and I are doing something rather important and…"

"Oh," Lily said, furrowing her eyebrows. Perhaps that was why James had been acting so odd that morning. "Well, 'bye then. I'll see you at the feast, I s'pose."

"Yes. So long, Lil," Remus called, walking down the corridor to the Marauders' compartment.

Lily stood there, leaning against the wall for a while longer, just thinking about James's behavior that morning. Shaking her head, she pushed off the wall and walked back to her compartment.

:::::::::::::::::::

Remus entered the compartment he shared with his friends. "I just ran into Lily Evans in the hallway. We spoke a bit," he added, watching both James and Sirius carefully.

Sirius's head twitched down, his long hair falling into his eyes. But other than that, nothing changed about his demeanor.

James looked up and very calmly asked, "Oh? What about?"

Remus sat. "Nothing much. She mentioned the Slug Club; they're having a get together tomorrow."

James raised an eyebrow. "Really? I might go, then." Then he turned back to the Animagi Bible, effectively ending the conversation.

Remus leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. Something was not right. Sirius and Lily were fighting, James wasn't hitting on her…they must have been really serious about the Animagi thing for it to change their personalities this much.

::::::::::::::::::

The next day after her last class (Arithmancy), Lily was walking down the hall toward the Gryffindor common room when she heard rapid footsteps behind her and a voice calling her name.

"Lily! Lily Evans! Wait!"

Lily slowed down and waiting for Sirius to catch up to her. "So you're speaking to me now."

Sirius took a deep breath. "Yes. I'm speaking to you now."

"And if I get caught up with something else again? Will you get angry and start ignoring me, hating me again?" Lily cried, crossing her arms.

Sirius shook his head earnestly. "Lily, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I…it was just…"

"Look…I wrote you nine letters this summer, begging you to forgive me, begging you to please just speak to me. And now…I'm sick of it. You can go and hang out with the rest of the Marauders. I've got a lot of homework, and a Slug Club meeting to attend."

He stood silently watching as she turned away and walked down the hallway, the low heels of her black school shoes clicking against the stone floor and echoing down the empty hallway.

::::::::::::::::::::::

James had sworn he wouldn't attend Slughorn's party. He was invited – he always was. He was clever, he came from a good family. James just thought they were pointless, so he never went.

But this time…

When Sirius came back to the dormitory dejected, one of the things he'd mentioned was that Lily was attending the Slughorn party. So James vowed that he would not attend, would not seem desperate. But as he thought more and more, he realized that Lily needed to see him in a casual setting so that he could prove to her that he'd matured over the summer. That he wasn't desperate to please her any longer. So when six o'clock rolled around, James put on his neatest robes, straightened his red and gold tie, ruffled his hair, and snuck down to the dungeons so that his friends wouldn't try to stop him attending.

James stood in the corner of the room, sipping butterbeer from a glass and waiting for Lily to arrive. And he saw her enter, her skirt neat, the knot of her tie perfect. She delicately took a glass of butterbeer and sat on one of Slughorn's cushy couches, looking down dejectedly. James swallowed hard at seeing the object of his affection so depressed and he sat down next to her.

"What is it?" James asked simply, reaching for her hand.

Lily looked up. "You wouldn't understand," she muttered, ignoring James's outstretched hand.

"Evans…" James began, but was quickly cut off.

"Potter, I'm sorry. I'm—I'm not feeling very well. I'm going to go back to my dormitory. Please give my regards to Professor Slughorn," Lily asked as she stood and walked out of the room.

She walked up to her room, turned off the light on her bedside table, and lay there, unable to get to sleep. She didn't know that in the boys' dormitory, Sirius was doing the same.

**The ending isn't quite to my liking, but I plan to have another chapter up quite soon.**

_**PLEASE READ!!!**_** I'm thinking about renaming "Forbidden", but I don't have any idea as to **_**what.**_** If you've got an idea, post it in a review and I might change the name to that! Thank you!**


	20. Flying Lessons?

**Wow! This is the twentieth chapter of Forbidden, which now has over 70 reviews! It's amazing; I never thought my little story would come this far! Thank you to each and every one of my readers and reviewers for putting up with my horrible update times and for urging me to keep writing! It means so much!**

**If you've enjoyed reading Forbidden (I like to think you have) please tell your friends, I'm ecstatic about the number of readers!**

_*****!!!If I reach 100 reviews, the 100**__**th**__** reviewer gets an OC named after them!!!*****_

A month had gone by, and Sirius and Lily's friends were beginning to worry. The two of them seemed fine by all accounts; they ate and slept, Sirius pranked, and Lily studied. They went to Hogsmeade with their friends, they laughed and talked. But they never ever mentioned each other. Once they'd talked in the library every Saturday, but now they didn't even mention the other's name. A month had gone by, and Sirius and Lily's friends were beginning to worry.

It was Alice and Mary who finally decided to do something. They'd gotten sick of Lily sitting on her bed with a book on Saturdays and acting odd during Quidditch matches. So the two of them went down to the common room and walked over to the Marauder's little corner with the sole intent of _getting Lily and Sirius to make up._

Alice pitched her voice about an octave higher than normal and fluttered her hands in Sirius's general direction. "Sirius, you'll never _believe _this! Your brother is fighting some younger Gryffindors in the Transfiguration Courtyard! You _have_ to go stop him!"

Sirius sighed. "Yes, can't have precious Regulus getting in trouble. _Mother_ would get _upset_. James, coming?"

James opened his mouth to say yes when he saw Mary shaking her head fervently. "Um…no, I've got to…finish up that essay and I…need Remus to help me?" Mary nodded and James quickly added, "Yes! I need Remus to help me with that essay, so you're just going to have to go yourself, mate. Sorry."

Sirius groaned and rolled his eyes before walking out of the common room, looking as if the weight of the world (or at least his brother) were resting on his shoulders. James watched as his best friend left the common room, and then turned to Alice.

"Well? I'm assuming that this is about Sirius and Lily."

Alice nodded, biting her lower lip. "Look, Potter, I wouldn't be going to you for help about this but…you know Sirius better than anyone else, and I know that you wouldn't want him to be all depressed like this."

James sighed. "Look, normally I wouldn't want Lily getting close to any guy who isn't me. But in this case…my best mate is acting odd, my Lily Flower is acting odd…"

Remus nodded. "They're both my good mates; something has to be done."

Mary crossed her arms and smirked. "Lucky for you, Alice and I have got a plan. We just need your help."

:::::::::::::::::::

A few days later, Lily was sitting in the common room, curled up in an armchair with a book, when Alice ran up to her in near hysterics.

"Lily! Lily Evans!"

Lily slowly finished the sentence she was reading, folded down the page in her book, placed said book on the table in front of her and turned to her best friend. "Alice, what is the matter?"

"Well, remember how you never actually took the first-year flying lessons, because you failed so miserably in the first lesson? And they gave you some advanced Charms work instead?"

Lily shuddered. "Yes…but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, apparently, every student now needs to have completed a full year of flying instruction _or_ be on the House team to graduate, never mind having any hope of being a Prefect."

Lily gasped. "But…I'm a _terrible_ flier! I have no chance at getting on the Gryffindor team! I barely even understand Quidditch!"

Alice giggled a bit. "Well, that is true. However, they've set it up so you can just be taught by a Gryffindor student who's on the team. Obviously, you wouldn't want to be in a class with a bunch of first years."

Lily shrugged. "All right. D'you know who the student _is?_ I mean, as long as it's not Potter or Bl—as long as it's not Potter, I'll be fine."

Alice smirked to herself and decided to ignore Lily almost saying Sirius's name. "Haven't a clue. But you will in about…fifteen minutes! C'mon, you don't want to be late, do you?!" And with that, she grabbed Lily by the hand and pulled her outside to the Quidditch pitch, her wand laying forgotten on the table.

::::::::::::::

Sirius was sitting on his bed eating chocolate when James ran in yelling, "C'mon mate, you've got to go!"

Sirius got up and stared at James. "Go where, may I ask?"

"The Quidditch pitch, you dolt! Didn't I tell you before? They want you to help some kid in our year learn to fly better…I don't recall who…"

Sirius screwed up his face in thought. "I suppose…I haven't anything better to do…"

He grabbed his broom and a piece of string to tie his long hair back, and walked down to the field. He didn't notice when James filched his wand with a quiet _Accio_.

:::::::::::::::::

Lily and Alice ran from the cupboard with all the school brooms to the doors that led to the pitch. "Lily, I'm so sorry, I've got to go, good luck!" Alice explained all in one breath before pushing Lily out the door.

The second she saw that Lily was on the pitch, Alice took out her wand and locked the door. Then, she opened the door to the nearest classroom where Mary and the rest of the Marauders where watching through the windows, and giggled.

"Thank goodness! I was worried she wouldn't believe my little story about the flying lessons! Now, all that's left to do…is wait."

::::::::::::::::

Lily burst out the door and onto the Quidditch pitch, her dark red hair blowing around her face madly while she struggled to keep control of her broom. She'd fought her way into the center of the pitch before she looked up and saw her teacher. Saw—

"Sirius Black?!" Lily shrieked, brushing hair out of her face to make sure she hadn't mistaken someone else for her _former_ friend. But, no, it was Sirius who stood there with his hair tied back and his knuckles quickly turning white on the handle of his Nimbus 500 – which even Lily knew was the best broom on the market. She noticed that he'd left his robes, tie, and vest on a bench on the side of the pitch, and he'd walked into the middle of it wearing only grey slacks and a white button-down. Lily looked down at her grey knee socks, her neatly pleated grey skirt, her pristine white Oxford, her perfectly tied tie. She felt terribly overdressed. But that wasn't the point.

"Li-Lily Evans. What are you—oh," Sirius said softly as he noticed the broom in her hands. "_You're_ the student. The flying-inept one."

Lily stomped her foot angrily as her temper flared. "Inept? _Inept?!_ Don't you dare call me inept, Sirius Black! Do you remember how long I had to tutor you for Arithmancy last year, do you? I swear, Black, I've half a mind to just walk off this godforsaken pitch right now if it means I won't have to put up with your company any longer!"

Sirius raised one eyebrow. "So why don't you, Evans?"

"Fine!" Lily yelled. "I will!" And with that, she turned on her heel and flounced off toward the large wooden doors leading, not to the locker rooms, but to the actual school. Shooting Sirius a final dirty look, Lily yanked on the door handle and stomped inside.

Or at least, she _would_ have stomped inside if the door had opened when she yanked on the door handle. She looked back towards Sirius, blushing, and noticed that he was trying not to laugh.

"You know that door's a _pull_, right?" He called.

"Yes, damn you, I know that! I pulled!" She screamed in his general direction. "I think it's locked!"

Sirius walked over to Lily and also tried the door. "It's locked."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I just said that, oh wise one. Just…step out of the way, I'll get my wand and unlock it." Lily shoved her hand into the inside pocket of her robes angrily, groping around for her wand. Which…didn't seem to be there. "Oh no. _Oh no," _Lily moaned over and over again as she checked each and every pocket she had. "Bloody hell! Where the_ bloody hell_ is my _wand_?"

"Language, Evans, language. And it's lucky for you that I don't exactly cherish your company, otherwise I might not do _this_," Sirius said as he reached into the back pocket of his slacks…and he, too, pulled his hand out empty. "James, that bloody wanker! He did this! He bloody Summoned my wand, and now we can't get in the bloody school!"

"Language, Black," Lily smirked. "D'you have the time?"

"The _time_, Evans? We're stuck outside on the bloody Quidditch pitch, possibly until tomorrow morning's Gryffindor team practice, and you want the _time_?!"

Lily pursed her lips and threw her broom down onto the ground, not minding that it fell on Sirius's foot. "Yes, brilliant one, I want the time, because there's always two prefects that _check_ the Quidditch pitch at eight o'clock. And I want to know how much longer I must endure the _torture_ that is your company."

Rolling his eyes at her, Sirius looked at the watch that he always kept on his wrist. "It's…about six. Shite."

"Yes. Shite," Lily echoed, and then walked over to the benches lining the sides of the pitch. Sirius made to follow her, but she pointed menacingly at him, and then at a bench rather far away from her.

Sirius rolled his eyes (he'd been doing that a lot around her recently) and sat down on the bench she'd pointed to, making a _happy-now_ face.

They sat like that for fifteen minutes, him scratching at a mark on his broom with his fingernail, her playing with her hair, neither of them saying a word. And then—

"I'm sorry, you know," Lily called randomly.

Sirius looked up. "Huh? Sorry? For what, Evans?"

"For not writing much in the beginning of the summer and then a month ago, rejecting your apology," she mumbled, scuffing her shoe against the ground.

"I'm sorry for ignoring all your letters, but we really _were_ working on something, James and Remus and Peter and I."

"New pranks?" Lily laughed, and walked to sit closer to Sirius.

"Er…something like that, yes," Sirius said, knowing he couldn't tell her about Animagi and what they were _really_ working on.

Lily ran her hand through her hair and turned to Sirius, asking, "Hey, what's your favorite prank that you've done?"

Sirius let out his breath in a huff. "Woah, I don't even know, Lil. I'd have to say that time last year when we charmed a bunch of slugs from Care of Magical Creatures to follow Slughorn around. It wasn't really flashy, but he got right pissed!" He explained, watching the way Lily threw her head back and laughed.

::::::::::::::::::

Back in the classroom, Alice and Mary were dancing around happily, singing, "They're friends again, they're friends again, they're frien—"

"Oh, shut it," James yelled at them, but they knew he didn't mean it. He was smiling, too.

Remus, however, checked his watch and then looked up, surprised. "Did you guys know that it was almost eight o'clock? There should be a prefect or two coming to check the pitch soon, we should probably get going…"

Mary nodded and opened the door with her wand, motioning for the rest of them to exit.

:::::::::::::::::

Lily and Sirius had been talking for a very long time when he checked his watch and realized that it was 8:03. After he told her, Lily ran to the huge doors leading to the school and began banging on them with her broom. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Lil, you're going to damage something."

Lily scoffed. "Oh please. And even if I did, I'm sure that Hogwarts can repair a slightly dented door!"

Sirius raised an eyebrow at her. "I was talking about the broom in your fist."

Luckily, Sirius was saved from Lily's scathing wit when the doors burst open to reveal the Gryffindor fifth year prefect, Ben, and his Ravenclaw girlfriend.

Lily clasped the older girl's hands. "Oh, thanks, Alena! We've been out here for _hours_; I don't know why the door locked!"

Alena frowned and turned to Ben. "That's odd, I _know_ that door is charmed to lock after the prefects check the pitch. I even asked Flitwick about it for our Charms essay!"

Ben rolled his eyes at Sirius and then put a hand on her shoulder. "So we'll ask Flitwick why the charm isn't working. Now, Sirius, Lily…it's almost curfew, you two should probably get back to the common room."

Lily nodded and started towards the stairs, only turning towards Sirius when she heard him call back, "We'll leave you two to your snogging, then!"

Lily's eyes widened and she burst out in fits of giggles. "Sirius! How could you—she's a _prefect_—she's so _nice_! What's _wrong_ with you?"

Sirius shrugged. "Eh, it's fine. We're friends, sort of. He's a Chaser on the Quidditch team, so…"

Lily nodded at Sirius as they reached the Fat Lady. "Cornish pixies," Lily told her.

The Fat Lady shuddered as she opened, and while the two of them climbed through the portrait hole, they heard her call, "Horrible, horrible things!"

Lily waved goodbye to Sirius and walked toward the stairs going up to the girls' dormitory. But as she turned her head slightly, she noticed Alice and Mary sitting around the fire with…_the Marauders?_ And they were laughing! And having a good time!

Lily shook her head. Deciding that she would ask her friends for an explanation the next morning, she lay back on her bed with a book and sighed. It was Saturday tomorrow. She was looking forward to having a long talk with Sirius in the library.

**Please don't get used to this frequency of updates. I will try to post by Sunday of each week, but please don't get used to 4 chapters a week! Remember, review 100 gets an OC.**

**Also, as for Ben and Alena, the two prefects…how ironic, my boyfriend's name is Ben, too! And, hmm, now that I think about it, Alena is **_**my**_** name! I was just thinking about naming OC's after people and… :)**


	21. The Christmas Party

**I was away since Friday; didn't have a chance to finish this chapter. Here it is now!**

**Also, WOW! 80 REVIEWS! THANKS SO MUCH!!**

Lily Evans had always hated dress robes. She didn't have to wear them often, but when the invitation to Professor Slughorn's Christmas party said that formal wear was required, she decided that "formal wear" didn't necessarily mean "dress robes". This was why, at six o'clock on December 24th, Lily was putting on an emerald silk gown and using a charm to curl her hair, instead of wearing what was essentially a bathrobe with lace. Lily sighed as she fixed her jewelry – the company at the party was bound to be horrible. Alice was invited, but then, so were Sirius and Potter. And it wasn't as if she would be able to _talk_ to Alice…the blonde girl had a date!

Alice came out of the bathroom and spun around on her heels, showing off the way her blue dress robes flared. "Lily, don't you _dare_ say anything about Frank and I! We're only going as friends! I mean, our families have been friends for absolute _ages_ and…does my hair look all right?"

Lily laughed and started for the door. "You look beautiful, Alice. Your _friend_ Frank Longbottom will love it, not that you care!" She added hastily. "And – Mary, I'm so sorry about this. I really am!"

Mary looked up from her book and scowled slightly. "Oh, go off and have your fun…and Lily, _try _to stop Alice and Frank when you catch them snogging in a corner!"

Lily hurriedly pulled Alice out of the dormitory before the argument could go any farther. As they gingerly walked down the stairs to the Common Room, trying not to trip in their heels, Lily wondered what Severus was doing just then.

Severus was never invited to any of Slughorn's parties – he was a halfblood with no significant relations, and apparently, Potions talent alone was not enough to secure him an invitation. She'd wanted to invite him – just as friends, of course! – but Slughorn had said that they couldn't bring guests.

As the two girls entered the Common Room, Lily noticed that it was almost empty – it seemed that everyone was either at Slughorn's party or at the Christmas feast for the rest of the school. However, almost empty wasn't quite the same thing as empty, and the two Marauders standing by the portrait hole made the difference.

Lily smiled to herself as she saw Sirius and James checking their reflections in the frame of one of the portraits on the walls. James ruffled his hair and straightened his black dress robes, making some derogatory remark at Sirius, who was wearing a Muggle tuxedo.

"Yes, Sirius, I'm sure the rest of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black would _love_ to know that you're wearing a _Muggle tux_," James said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, why do you think I'm wearing it?" Sirius said, only partly joking.

James was about to respond when he heard the _click-click_ of heels on stone stairs change to a _thump-thump_…Lily had descended the stairs. He turned around and let his mouth fall open, feigning speechlessness. Lily rolled her eyes and pulled her grey shawl tighter around herself – it got cold in the dungeons! – and turned to Alice.

"Alice, d'you want me to wait for Frank with you?"

Alice bit her lip and nodded. "Look, I wouldn't ask this normally, but I'm _nervous_!"

James shot Sirius a look and then turned to Alice, saying, "I thought it was just as friends, Eberly!"

Alice blushed. "All right, Potter and Black, out! Lily…please stay!"

James and Sirius laughed and climbed out the portrait hole as Frank rushed breathlessly down the stairs, his neat hair quickly becoming messed up.

"Alice, I'm so sorry I kept you waiting, I really am sorry! Oh…hullo, Lily!" Frank blurted out, turning a bit red. He held out his hand for Alice's and then folded it into the crook of his arm. "Shall we?"

The two of them climbed out the portrait hole, leaving Lily standing next to the couch in the common room. Shaking her head, she climbed out the portrait hole, clutching the skirt of her dress tightly. As she pulled out the last bits of green silk, she noticed Sirius standing next to the portrait hole.

"C'mon, Lily. Let me walk you down."

She blushed and nodded, starting down the Grand Staircase. She felt her cheeks turn even redder as Sirius took her hand.

:::::::::::::::

She'd been to Slughorn's Christmas parties before, but there was something off about it all. The conversation was more subdued, there were less people dancing… Of course, she knew what it was all about—

"Miss Evans! I trust you saw the Daily Prophet this morning? Terrible, terrible. What's that manic fellow calling himself? King Moldy-warts?" Slughorn wondered.

Lily bit her lip. "Lord Voldemort, actually. And…yes, it's horrid. Just another of those pureblood maniacs from those old families, like those Muggle murders near Sussex two weeks ago."

Sirius came up behind her and handed her a glass of butterbeer. "Pureblood maniacs like my parents you mean?"

Slughorn blanched. "No, my boy! Miss Evans meant nothing of the sort, I'm sure! Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a very promising potioneer, Damocles Belby, here; he's a former student of mine, I'm sure you understand…" He excused himself, and awkwardly walked away.

Lily watched him walk away and turned to Sirius. "Look, I am sorry, I didn't mean that…I just…"

Sirius shook his head. "I wasn't trying to make you look bad, Lily. What I said was true – my parents _are_ pureblood maniacs. Even if they're not openly supporting this Voldemort fellow's ideas…as the Muggles say; it's the thought that counts."

Lily sighed. "I feel bad for you, Sirius, I really do. But…can't we just attempt to enjoy the party?"

Sirius laughed, his characteristic bark of a laugh making everyone within a meter turn around. "And how are we to do that? You know as well as I that this is…" Sirius let the sentence end in a large yawn.

Lily giggled and grabbed a flute of champagne from a passing waiter. Sitting down on one of the fluffy little couches that peppered Slughorn's office, she motioned for Sirius to join her. "Tell me what you thought of that last Arithmancy test."

Sirius let a sigh out. "Horrid thing. I mean, the _Muggle_ part of geometry is difficult enough, what with all the proofs and finds and things. But then she wants us to apply it to Potions and Theory of Magic…"

Lily nodded and swiveled on the couch to face Sirius. "I _know_. That last problem about multiple wizards and what shape they need to stand in to have the most effect on an object was _so_ annoying." Lily saw Sirius open his mouth to say something and then abruptly smirked and shook his head. "What? What's the matter?"

She felt the weight of the couch shift behind her and two hands came to rest on her hips, pulling her back. A face nuzzled the back of her neck and she felt lips move against her ear, murmuring suggestively, "Nothing's the matter, Lily Flower. Not now that I'm here with you…"

Lily jerked away and turned to face her assailant. "Potter. I would say it's a pleasure to see you, but my mother taught me not to lie."

James reached out and touched her cheek tenderly. "Such an innocent, my dear Evans. I would just _love_ to ruin all that."

Lily rolled her eyes and stood up gracefully, one hand clutching the skirt of her gown. "Well, boys, I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm sure I can find something worth my time. Perhaps watching paint dry. Excuse me."

She walked off, clicking her heels. Sirius turned to James and made a face. "Really, James? Could you be any more crude?"

James shook his head and turned away, grabbing champagne.

::::::::::::::::::::::

It was about half past eleven when Lily yawned into the palm of her hand and politely made her excuses to Professor Slughorn and all his important guests. She wandered down the dungeon corridor slowly shawl trailing on the floor. Lily paused by a tapestry to end down and fix the strap of her heel.

"Lily Flower, going to bed so soon?" James asked, walking up to her and crouching.

"Yes, James. I am. And I'm doing so because I was tired of being at a party with _you_," Lily snapped as they both stood.

Sirius grinned, from where he was standing behind James. "All right then, Lily. We'll leave you alone," he promised, ignoring James, who had turned around and was mouthing _what are you doing?_ "Just…let us get you back to the common room first." He shot James a look and ever so slightly tilted his head towards the tapestry.

James snapped his fingers and whirled to face Lily. "Yes, Lily Flower. There's a passage just through this door…takes you right up to the seventh floor, only one corridor down from the Fat Lady."

Lily pursed her lips. "In the name of Merlin, if you're lying to me, James Edward Potter, I will tear you to _pieces _with my _bare hands_."

James shrugged, accepting her terms, and then turned to the tapestry. Winking at Lily and Sirius over his shoulder, James tickled the horse on the tapestry under the chin and the whole thing rolled up to reveal a huge gap in the wall. "Ladies first. So, Lily, Sirius…go ahead."

Lily gingerly stepped inside and giggled as Sirius smacked James in the head. The three of them made their way slowly down the corridor, Lily mostly trying to ignore the other two, when they heard Alice's bubbly laugh.

Lily furrowed her eyebrows and called out, "Ali—" when Sirius's hand clapped over her mouth. She struggled for a moment and was on the verge of biting his hand when she saw him mouth _"Let's see what's up." _Lily nodded silently and sighed in relief when Sirius let go of her.

They crept down the passageway and peered around a corner, gasping at what they saw.

Frank had pressed Alice against the wall, one hand tangled in her hair, the other on her hip. Their faces were close, so close that their noses were touching, and she was giggling at something he'd whispered. And then, as Lily, Sirius, and James watched in awe tinged with horror, Frank Longbottom leaned down and kissed Alice Eberly.

Lily closer her gaping mouth, and yanked back Sirius and James, who were about to interrupt the new couple.

"C'mon, guys," she whispered and looked at her watch, which read a few minutes past twelve. "It's Christmas!"

**Review, please!**

**And remember, review #100 gets an OC named after them. Just to clarify (I had a reviewer ask) I will ask for your **_**actual**_** name for the OC, since it wouldn't make sense to have a character named something like "dancingirl28843". You can give me your real name or another name you would like me to use instead (a friend, etc.) If you don't **_**want**_** to give a name, I can modify your screenname (if someone called wolfgirl wins, the character's name is Wolf.)**

**Thanks again!**


	22. Verti Bestia

**Sorry for the long update, I had to start this chapter all over when I was a page in because it just wasn't going anywhere. It's pretty long now with lots of stuff in it! Hope ya love it!**

The rest of the year had flown by in a haze for Lily: a haze of tests and essays and projects. They were only a few weeks into the summer and so far, she'd done nothing more than laze around and read the Daily Prophet, trying to not act too paranoid about the upcoming prefect letters. Sev was practically living at her house these days, especially today; they wanted to wait for the prefect letters together since it was the day they were due.

Lily sipped her butterbeer slowly and nodded at Severus's Potions theories. It was uncanny how good he was getting at the subject – she'd spotted him making corrections in their Potions texts every year, and the results were incredible. "I don't know, Sev," she began, when her voice suddenly broke.

"Sev! Is that—the Hogwarts letter?" She breathed and threw open the window, letting in the deep black owl that had two letters tied to its foot.

She carefully untied her letter from the owl and ran her fingers over the dried ink and the dark wax seal on the letter. Slowly, methodically, she ran a fingernail under the seal, and watched as it broke. She hoped to Merlin that there was some charm on the letter to make it lighter, and that that was why she couldn't feel the weight of the Prefect badge. She didn't look into the envelope, no, that was too frightening – if it was just parchment, if there was no gold sheen…She pulled out the first piece of parchment, the book list and a note about O.W.L.s, and read it through to the very end. Twice.

And then, only then, did she carefully peer into the envelope. There was another piece of parchment in there, and something that glinted gold.

Lily let out an ear-piercing shriek.

::::::::::::::::::::::

_Mr. Remus Lupin,_

_Congratulations on becoming a prefect of Gryffindor House of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As you begin your fifth year of schooling, the work will become more rigorous in preparation for the Ordinary Wizarding Levels (O.W.L.s), which you will sit in June. However, as one of the prefects, you will have added responsibilities this year, not the least of which will be helping the younger students both with their course work and finding their way around the school._

_Thank you for taking on this extra load and for helping Hogwarts School._

_Deputy Headmistress,_

_M. McGonagall_

"What an absolute load of rubbish," James exclaimed, tossing Remus's new prefect badge into the air. "'Extra load'? What the _hell_ is that? I mean, everyone knows that the best part of being prefect is getting to laze about and tell everyone else what to do!"

"Uh, mate…I don't quite think it works that way…I mean, I'm going to have to patrol and shite," Remus explained. He ignored James's loud and obnoxious "psh!" noise, and went on. "Anyway, I've had a new idea for how to get that incantation that we need."

Sirius looked up from the Snitch he was fiddling with. "Oh? We've already tried every book in James's parents' library, even the private collection. I've looked through the books in the Black family library—" he shuddered "—but there's nothing there either! And if we can't find some forbidden incantation in the _Black_ collection, we can't find it anywhere!"

Remus smiled smugly. "And that's where you're wrong. Your family has a lot of books on Dark magic, true. But Animagi aren't _technically_ dark magic. It's just that the incantation is forbidden since it's so dangerous! But what we need is a place where we can get something that's _forbidden_, a place where the shopkeeps have no _scruples_ about selling highly illegal material to underage boys…"

"Knockturn Alley!" James exclaimed, tossing Remus his shiny badge. "Why didn't I think of it before, of _course!_ Knockturn Alley!"

Remus scowled. "Bloody hell James, I wasn't quite done yet."

James ignored him. "We'll go tomorrow! I'd like to go today but it's ten at night, my parents would never take me…we'll say we're going to Diagon Alley; we'll tell them they can stay in the Leaky Cauldron. I still have a load of Galleons from my birthday. We'll find a book and we'll get out, it can't go wrong!"

It went rather wrong.

:::::::::::::::::

Lily had always liked to look through the books for next year before classes actually started. Severus didn't share this habit. _He_ liked to read the entire book during the summer. So since they were so antsy to get their hands on their textbooks, they managed to convince Lily's mother to take them into Diagon Alley the day after they got their letters.

They made their way into the Leaky Cauldron, Severus smirking as if he belonged there, Lily grinning, and Mrs. Evans a bit shy. Lily asked Tom the bartender for a butterbeer for her mother, and perhaps a quiet Cheering Charm or something similar to make her feel at home, and then she kissed her mum on the cheek and dragged Sev off into Diagon Alley.

They zoomed through Flourish and Blotts and settled contentedly outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, trying in vain to keep their sundaes from getting all over their textbooks. They argued over the finer points of Potionmaking and debated whether or not it was time for Slughorn to retire.

Lily pointed her spoon at Severus seriously and opened her mouth to explain that Slughorn was a good Professor when she noticed four rather sketchy looking boys making their way past Quality Quidditch Supplies. She held up a finger to keep Severus quiet and packed their books into her school bag (the one that was magically enhanced to always be light). After dropping eleven Sickles and twenty-three Knuts on the table, the two of them padded off after the Marauders.

:::::::::::::::::::

James had shoved his hands in the pockets of his robes and strutted off toward the turn into Knockturn Alley in what he apparently thought was a nonchalant manner. In Sirius's humble opinion, it just made him look as if he was hiding something in his pocket – which he was: about ten Galleons that he'd brought to buy a thin, illegal, volume with the incantation.

Sirius leaned over to him and muttered, "Are you sure that ten will be enough? I mean, the other one was _two hundred_."

James nodded self-assuredly, the same we he did everything. "'Course, mate."

Sirius rolled his eyes and muttered back, "There's our turn! C'mon, let's lean against this wall or something for a bit; we don't want to draw attention to ourselves." The four of them casually leaned against the wall of some small second hand bookshop.

Sirius noticed a flash of red off to the side and immediately thought of Lily. He shook his head. There was no way in hell that Lily was there the same day they were.

::::::::::::::

"Woah!" Lily exclaimed and came to a dead stop, jerking Severus back. "Sirius saw me, I know he did. He looked right at me. My hair's not exactly…hard to spot!" The two waited a few moments and then followed the Marauders into Knockturn Alley, hiding in the midst of a group of suspiciously Dark looking wizards.

::::::::::::::

"You do realize that we don't look Dark enough to be here?" Remus asked James. "Look at Peter. Just look at him," he insisted, and James and Sirius turned nonchalantly to look to look at their blonde, rather pudgy friend. He looked around, mouth open and gaping. He looked like what he was – a fifteen year old that'd never seen any of this before in his life. James hit Peter gently on the shoulder and he promptly snapped out of it. They walked down Knockturn Alley inching past human-looking fingernails and poisonous candles. They had to tear Sirius away from a window displaying shrunken heads, because it seemed as if he'd be happy standing there all day.

When he came back to his senses, Sirius motioned to the shop next door and announced, "Number 16A, Knockturn Alley. It had a name once, a few hundred years ago, but when eventually people just started calling it a blot on bookshops everywhere. Apparently the owner of Flourish and Blotts started it – the place was giving him a bad name. So, without further ado, I give you—"

He was cut off by Remus, who read the messy sign hanging above the shop, raised an eyebrow and asked, "The Inkblot? Really?"

Sirius groaned. "It's just a nickname really, but _yes._ The Inkblot. It's still the best place to get books that are dangerous or of…questionable legality. I've been here a few times…my mum took me here for my tenth birthday and told me I could have any book in the shop."

James smirked. "What'd you pick?"

"The most boring book in the place: some history on Gellert Grindelwald. She was furious for weeks; she'd been hoping I'd pick _The Guide to Jinxes _or some such thing."

They finished laughing and headed inside the shop.

::::::::::::

Severus grabbed Lily's arm and whispered, "They're heading inside The Inkblot! That's…well, it's a Dark bookshop, Lily."

Lily bit her lip and muttered back, "We'll wait for them here, then corner them."

:::::::::::::::

The Marauders exited the Inkblot, James stowing a very thin book inside his bag. It was battered and ragged, but they really only needed one page – the incantation. On some random page towards the middle of the book, in little curling letters could be found the two little words that spelled the end of most of Remus's problems – _verti bestia_. They were walking back to Diagon Alley, already confident and careless, when disaster struck in the form of Lily Catherine Evans.

She walked up to them and quietly tapped James on the shoulder, relishing the way he jumped and nearly tore his hair from his head with the severity with which he ruffled it.

"Nervous, Potter?" She smirked. "I want to know what you're doing with a book from Knockturn Alley, and I want to know it now."

James mumbled something that turned into, "Um, heh, er, and then _Sirius_ said that—"

Sirius hit him over the head and yelled, "Look, I'd love to stay here and explain how I'm not at fault, but can we continue this conversation _outside of Knockturn_ _Alley_?"

The four Marauders laughed nervously, but soon clammed up at the look on Lily's face. Severus followed them reluctantly, deciding not to nick a poison candle.

:::::::::::::

The six of them spent a half hour arguing, with the results being nothing better than a very angry Lily, a very bored Severus, and three very frustrated Marauders (Peter had stopped by Florean Fortescue's). Lily had wheedled, threatened, whined, and screamed by turns, but James, Sirius, and Remus had refused to tell her _anything. _They were now extremely ticked off because they were hoping to go back to the Potter Manor and try out the Animagi spell. Lily and Severus left them outside Madam Malkin's and went back to her house, deciding to forget about the crazy Marauders and focus on their schoolbooks for O.W.L. year.

And those same crazy Marauders went back to James's house to try a new spell—

"Verti bestia!" Sirius commanded, jabbing his wand forward.

Remus rolled his eyes and shook his head sadly. "Sirius. We just spent a _year_ researching how to turn into an Animagus. Admittedly that book was written for theoretical researchers, but the process should be the _same_."

Sirius frowned. "Well, then, _genius_ wolf-boy. If you're so _smart_, how am I supposed to do it?"

Remus surveyed his friend. "Well first of all, it's not ver-_tie_ bes-_tee_-ya. _Verti bestia, vertie bestia, verti bestia._ And second, what are you doing with your wand?! It looks like you're trying to _stab_ someone, for goodness's sake! It's more like a _tap_," Remus explained, demonstrating.

James laughed and leaned back on the attic floor. "I swear, Remus, you're going to be a Professor when you grow up. And, Sirius, look at the resemblance to McGonagall! If I didn't _know_ that she was asexual, I'd swear she was your birth mother!"

Remus whacked him over the head and turned back to Sirius. "Well, try it again."

Sirius shot Remus, James, and Peter (for good measure) a dirty look and asked, "Why do I have to go first? Okay, okay, stop growling at me, wolfie! I'll do it!" And with that, Sirius tapped his wand ever so gently and murmured the incantation.

Suddenly, his field of vision grew to be much broader. Sirius jumped back and then squinted. Why was there so much less _detail_ in everything?! And why wasn't there any color?!

"Remus, what the bloody hell is going on?" He tried to yell, but all he heard was a horribly…loud…_**bark**_?!

Sirius started jumping around manically, trying to grab his wand and upsetting bookshelves and Marauders in the process.

Remus waved his hands in what he apparently thought was a calming manner. "Sirius, calmed down. It _worked_, this is _great_, you turned into a _dog_…"

Sirius started yelling — barking — loudly and acting even crazier.

James and Remus knelt down next to their best-friend-turned-puppy. Remus quickly pocketed Sirius's wand before the crazy dog could break it. "Okay, Sirius, you probably want to get back to being, er, human now. Woah, hold it with the barking! Anyway, since you obviously can't use your wand right now, all you have to do is _think_ the incantation. But, there's a little charm in the Animagi Bible so that your wand is somehow incorporated into your Animagus form. We can do that later. Anyway, all you have to do is—"

"Think the incantation, I get it. Just stop rambling, Remus!" Sirius exclaimed, rising up off all fours and brushing dust off his hands and knees.

"Wicked!" The rest of the Marauders yelled, and watched eagerly as James grabbed his wand from his pocket and tried out the spell.

"Oh dear God, James, what _are _you?!" Sirius yelled in horror. His _best friend_ had just turned into something _big_ and _brown_ with – he gasped in horror – _antlers_. Remus hit him over the head, causing Sirius to yell, "What is it with you and the _hitting_?!"

Remus just rolled his eyes again. "He's a stag, you bloody imbecile. Now, come on James, snap out of it and stop poking Peter with your antlers. He still has to try it."

After James turned back into their glasses-wearing, hair-ruffling friend, they found out that Peter's Animagus form was a rat. Then, they had a _hell_ of a time chasing him around the attack, since Peter as a rat was apparently smarter and more cunning than Peter as a boy. When they'd all finally gotten back to _humanity_, they settled on the floor with some butterbeer and Chocolate Frogs.

Sirius cracked open a Chocolate Frog package and stuffed one in his mouth. "You know, now that we've finally sorted out the Animagus thing, we need to start working on that map."

James nodded through a mouthful of butterbeer. "Yeah! I've been looking at some charms and things, so we should have the _Marauder's Map_ (thought that up myself) up and running about October. I mean, we need to be at Hogwarts when we do it, so we'll have to wait, but yeah. Shouldn't take too long."

"Excellent!" Sirius exclaimed. "I propose a toast. To the Marauders."

They clinked glasses. "To the Marauders!"

**There we go! Going on fifth year now, there's going to be a **_**lot**_** in it. Anyway, please review, and the next chapter should be up in a week or two (although I'm going to be on vacation for the second week so no time to write…)**

**Remember, 100****th**** reviewer gets an OC.**


	23. Prefect Duties Not a Picnic

Lily curled into a small ball on her four-poster bed in the Hogwarts dormitory. She lay there for a while, burrowing into the blanket and looking down at the stripes on her tie. After a few minutes, she reached out one pale arm and pulled herself closer to the edge of the bed. She peeked over the edge at her schoolbag, which was overflowing with books and quills and rolls of parchment. Letting out a moan that sounded like "Umph," she rolled over and angled her head to bury her face in the covers. She reached out again and grabbed the corner of her comforter, untucked it from the mattress, and pulled the corner over the head.

Another few moments passed before she heard footsteps and then Alice's tinkling laugh. "Lily, dear, you do realize that it's only homework? It's not going to hex you."

Lily mumbled something about _Alice_ getting hexed and sat up, red hair sticking up at odd angles. She frowned dejectedly at Alice, and then at Mary who was sitting on her own bed across the room. "It's great to be back at school, but why are the professors assigning so much _work_? For heaven's sake, it's only the first day of class!" As she spoke, she rose, brushed her hair, and slipped back into her school shoes. "D'you want to go down to the common room with all this?"

Alice nodded, choosing to leave Mary sprawled across her bed, and the two of them headed downstairs. As they descended the stairs, Lily spotted the Marauders heading towards the only available table. She hurried down the staircase and nearly ran to the table, throwing her books down in front of a chair and smiling at Potter innocently.

"Alice and I are sitting here."

James looked at her, red hair everywhere, chest heaving, eyes shining in victory. "Go out with me, Evans."

"Is that a question or a command?!" Lily exclaimed, shocked by James's statement.

"Well it _was_ a question, but if you're into that sort of thing…" James leered.

Lily rolled her eyes and spat, "No, Potter. I don't date arrogant toerags."

James clutched at his heart and staggered away, calling out, "Oh, that hurt, Evans! Oh, how you wound me!"

Lily laughed as Alice came up to her and perched on the edge of the table. "You shouldn't be so hard on him. He really does like you, Lily."

"And how do _you_ know?"

Alice's cheeked reddened and she looked down. "Frank told me."

Seizing this opportunity to change the subject, Lily quickly began teasing Alice about _Frank Longbottom_, trying to ignore the kisses Potter was blowing her from across the room.

::::::::::::::::

That night, Lily quietly let herself out of her dormitory, tied her dressing gown more tightly, and padded down to the common room. Pausing on the last step of the staircase, Lily peeked out and spotted Remus sitting in an armchair, twirling his wand and waiting for her to patrol the corridors. Lily smoothed her hair and stepped lightly in to the common room.

"Sorry for making you wait, Remus!" She exclaimed.

Remus stood and shook his head. "No problem, Lily. Shall we?" When she nodded, the two of them headed into the hallway to start their patrol. As she scrambled out of the portrait hole, Lily murmured a quiet apology to the Fat Lady, who frowned.

"Oh, it's not you that woke me up…it's them there," the Fat Lady said grouchily and jerked her head to the right, where Lily could make out two shadowy silhouettes. Waving Remus over, Lily walked quietly down the corridor toward the figures who ended up being…

"_Prefects?_" Lily breathed and looked at Remus, her eyes wide.

He nodded. "It's Tom and Andrea, from sixth year," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

The two prefects (who were on the patrol before Lily and Remus) were leaning against the wall, snogging. Lily walked quietly up to the two of them and picked up Andrea's Ravenclaw tie from the floor. Holding it up in the air, Lily asked in a clear voice, "Is this how you patrol?"

Two pairs of eyes snapped open, and two pairs of cheeks became tinged with red. Snatching her tie from Lily, the older girl hugged her boyfriend and hurried off to Ravenclaw tower.

Lily and Remus shared an exasperated smile as Tom, smirking, walked back to the portrait hole, where the Fat Lady was sure to give him a thorough lecture.

::::::::::::::::

They had been patrolling for while when Lily tried to bring up someone that she'd been thinking about a lot lately.

"So…how're the rest of the Marauders?" She licked her lips quickly.

Remus grinned at her knowingly and said, "Oh, they're good. James has some crazy charms ideas so we're working on that, and Peter's been clumsy as always."

"Yes…" she murmured. "Er—how's Sirius? I haven't gotten a chance to talk to him today or yesterday…"

"He's good. Seems to be very curious about prefect duties all of a sudden. Very curious about how _you've_ been handling the prefect duties."

Lily ducked her head to hide her rising blush. "We ought to get back to the Tower. It's past ten, our patrol has been over for a few minutes."

As they shuffled back to the common room, Remus noted the way her cheeks were slightly pink. As her blush disappeared, Lily looked back at Remus and flicked her vivid hair over one shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Nothing, Lily. Just…" Remus scrambled through his Marauding mind for a quick excuse. "Hey, you're brilliant at charms!"

Lily laughed. "Well, I wouldn't say _brilliant_ exactly, but I'm not bad I suppose."

Remus rolled his eyes. "At any rate, there's something I've wanted to do for a while now, and I was wondering if there's a charm you knew."

Lily blinked at him a few times before asking slowly, "And what _is_ it?"

"Is it possible to…bewitch a piece of paper to show where people are and what their names are?"

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Remus, that's illegal. I mean, for Hogwarts. You can't have a map showing where people are at each and every moment!"

Remus hurriedly shook his head. "No, I wanted to do it for…for my house at home. Just…checking in on my family."

Lily bit her lip. "I'm not sure, Remus. I could probably figure something out but…"

_She's not going to crack_, Remus thought. And then, he went in for the kill.

"C'mon, Lily. It's sort of a pet project of mine and Peter's and James's…" Remus paused. "And Sirius's."

Lily furrowed her brow. "Well, I suppose if you're not going to use it for _Hogwarts_, there wouldn't be anything wrong with me peeking through my charms books…"

::::::::::::::::::

He had heard them leave a little over an hour ago, and had snuck down to the common room soon after. Now it was 10:15 and a few hours of homework had him tired enough to be falling asleep in front of the fire. As his heavy lids slowly dropped down, a bright, clear voice fought its way through the haze in his mind.

"…night, Remus, I'll see you tomorrow…"

Sirius's eyes flicked open and he suddenly found enough presence of mind to hide down behind the cushions of the couch while Remus made his way through the common room to the steps leading to the dormitory. After Remus's footsteps faded away, Sirius became aware of a much softer set. The new footsteps grew louder and louder, until the same voice, now made husky by whispering, breathed in his ear.

"What are you doing, Sirius?"

"Lily!" Sirius exclaimed, trying to ignore the unexpected frog in his throat and his suddenly speeding heartbeat. "I…I was just…"

Lily smiled and flicked her eyes upward for a moment. "Yeah, yeah…d'you need help with your Arithmancy homework?"

Sirius grinned and nodded. "Yeah, but—" he yawned, mouth stretching to enormous proportions. "—but I'm a bit tired. Tomorrow maybe?"

"'Course! Anytime, Sirius. You know that," Lily added as she made her way up the stairs to her dormitory.

* * *

But Sirius didn't go to sleep when he went back upstairs to the fifth year boys' dorm. He was about to, when he noticed that Remus's and Peter's beds were empty, and that there was a light glowing from behind James's closed curtains. Sirius yanked open the Gryffindor-red drapes and laughed when he saw his three best friends huddled around a piece of parchment and a book of complicated spells used in map-making.

"Keep it down!" Remus hissed, jerking his head toward Frank, sleeping in a corner of the room. Sirius nodded as he settled into his space between James and Remus. He looked at what they had laid out in the small circle between their crosses legs. Besides the massive tome on cartography he'd seen earlier, there were smaller books (all of them exploding with small notes) and a quill they'd bewitched earlier this summer, for what use they didn't know.

Sirius tugged one small volume closer and began looking for something to help them map people's locations. He had reached the middle of the book and was about to give up when James's hand nearly smacked him in the face and a pointing finger jabbed a paragraph in the middle of the page.

"Oy! Are you blind, Sirius? The charm is starin' you in the bloody face!" James whispered hotly.

Sirius rolled his eyes again and settled in to read the paragraph.

"_Although the following charm seems fairly straightforward, we feel the need to reinforce the vital importance of making sure your use of the charm is legal. The list of places where use of this charm is prohibited may be found in Appendix II, and most notably includes the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts School. After the legality of your project has been verified, you may proceed with use of the charm. Remember, the charm can only be used on an existing map*. In addition, when using the charm remember to state the location clearly._

_*Note: For an interesting result, we suggest using this charm in conjunction with the one found in volume I, pg. 153, the __Self-Updating Map__."_

Sirius stared down mutely for a few moments, and then suddenly sprang into action. "All right, this gives the people factor, but we still want a transforming map, right mates?" When his friends nodded, Sirius went on. "Right, then. We need volume one of this bloody series for that, and this is all rather illegal, so _do_ keep mum about it. _Peter,"_ Sirius added pointedly when he noticed that the blonde boy was nodding off.

James and Remus, meanwhile, were looking through their stacks of books for the first volume. A few tense minutes later, James ran his fingers through his already-messy black hair and shook his head. He sighed, "We don't have it. I'm sure the Hogwarts library has a copy, though. For N.E.W.T. level Charms students perhaps?"

The four of them exchanged nods and made plans to grab the book the next day, deciding to forego illegal midnight excursions to the library in favor of, perhaps, some sleep.

**I'm sorry. I've had this written for some time, but I've had no time to post it.**

**Feel free to flame.**

**-Lena**


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